Brinej) Onion Industry. 



353 



do not enter so largely into the cost of production, because the 

 Dutch grower of silverskins employs little outside labour, and is 

 content to work on his holding for a return which in some seasons 

 is not equivalent to the wages of ordinary labourers. 



On the other hand, his outgoings for rent are higher per acre 

 than those ruling in this country, and he can claim little advan- 

 tage on his manure bill. It is clear, therefore, that, even under 

 the most favourable conditions, the net profits realised by the 

 cultivator of silverskins in Holland would be quite inadequate 

 to satisfy the social requirements of agriculturists and market 

 gardeners in this country. 



In connection with this question of the relative cost of labour 

 it must, however, be observed that in the Netherlands all the 

 expenditure involved in dealing with the crop after it is gathered 

 is borne by the brining factories. And in the case of the cost 

 of peeling, which is the largest item in the labour bill, there 

 would seem to be a difference of nearly one penny per peck 

 between the prices paid to Dutch peelers and those quoted by 

 the Biggleswade growers. The former receive one penny per 

 kilo., which is under y^d. per peck of peeled onions, while at 

 Biggleswade the price paid is stated to be 8d. a peck. 



These differences, however, have not been of sufficient influence 

 to enable the brining factories to place their goods on our 

 markets at prices persistently lower than those at which English 

 goods have been quoted ; and, in fact, the evidence collected by 

 the Board both in the Netherlands and in this country has gone 

 to show that the prices paid by pickling firms for first quality 

 Dutch silverskins in brine delivered in London have, in some 

 seasons, been higher even than the prices quoted for home 

 produce. It is, indeed, a mistake to assume that the increasing 

 demand for Dutch silverskins in this country is to be explained 

 by reference merely to the question of prices. Nor is it to- be 

 explained by any real difference in the quality of the onions, 

 since the silverskins grown in Holland do not possess any 

 inherent properties which make them intrinsically superior to 

 the onions of the same species produced in this country. The 

 secret of the success of the Dutch competition is to be found 

 mainly in the fact that the onions exported from the Netherlands 

 present, on the whole, a better appearance, and more readily 



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