349 



THE BRINED ONION INDUSTRY. 



Representations were recently made to the Board of 

 Agriculture by the Biggleswade Trades and Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation to the effect that the cultivation and preparation for 

 pickling of onions, gherkins, and cauliflowers, which was until a 

 few years ago a flourishing industry in the Biggleswade district, 

 had declined considerably since 1S95, owing, it was said, to the 

 increasing competition of Dutch and Belgian producers, who 

 were apparently able to place their goods on British markets 

 •at lower prices than the market gardeners of North Bedford- 

 shire could afford to accept This decline was not only a matter 

 of deep concern to the gardeners at Biggleswade, but it had 

 been accompanied by a large reduction in the incomes of the 

 working classes in the neighbourhood, as the various operations 

 connected with the growth and brining of pickling onions gave 

 employment to a large number of women and children. The 

 Board accordingly sent an officer, who was accompanied by a 

 representative of the Biggleswade Association, to investigate the 

 conditions under which the brined onion industry is carried on 

 in Holland and Belgium. 



It appears that the chief centres of the production of onions 

 in the Netherlands are the provinces of Zeeland and North and 

 South Holland, and that an area of 7,500 acres, exclusive of 

 market gardens, is estimated to be annually under the crop. 



The small white onions, known as " silverskins," the competi- 

 tion of which was more immediately the subject of complaint, 

 are grown mainly in the provinces of Gelderland and North 

 Brabant, though in recent years they have also been cultivated 



