ABSTRACTS. 



1173 



" One advantage of the factory system is the great facilities it affords 

 for turning out large quantities of brined Onions of uniform size and 

 appearance selected from the produce of a large number of small growers. 

 In the case of one of the largest factories, which exports a considerable 

 quantity of Silverskins to Great Britain, this process of selection is assisted 

 by the practice of sorting the Onions when purchasing them from the 

 growers in order to exclude outside sizes. 



"Another important feature noticed in one of the Dutch brining fac- 

 tories is the use of improved apparatus for grading the Onions. In place 

 of the round hand-sieves with cane bottoms and a square mesh, which are 

 still used in Biggleswade, an oblong riddle is employed, about four feet long 

 by three feet six inches wide. This consists of three trays fitting into 

 each other, with zinc bottoms perforated with round holes, according to 

 the sizes of the different grades of Onions that each tray is intended to 

 deal with, the tray with the largest holes being at the top, and that with 

 the smallest at the bottom. A further improvement observed is the use 

 of horizontal troughs for the sorting of the riddled Onions, in order to 

 pick out discoloured specimens, 1 pipes,' and bad shapes. The Onions are 

 sorted into four sizes, the finest being, on the whole, smaller than the 

 best English ; and are then put into casks and brined. 



"As regards prices, the first grade fetched this year 70s. per hogshead, 

 f.o.b. Rotterdam, according to the latest quotations, and other grades 

 ranged down to 24s., the latter being for very large sizes. These prices 

 are, however, low, and due to the exceptionally abundant crop of this year. 

 Last year the first grade fetched 80s. per hogshead, and the other sizes 

 were correspondingly dearer. 



" Freight rates are quoted from Rotterdam to London, from which it 

 app?ars that about 2s. Qd. to 3s. per hogshead, or at least 10s. per ton, 

 must be added to the Rotterdam prices for brined Onions in order to get 

 at the actual cost of the goods to the London pickling firms ; and some- 

 thing must also be allowed for the cartage from the wharf or station, as 

 the case may be, to the picklers' premises. 



" Railway charges from Biggleswade to King's Cross vary from 9s. 2d. 

 per ton for a single ton, to 6s. M. per ton for 4-ton lots. 



" The foregoing observations embody the principal points brought out 

 by the inquiries made with regard to the Dutch trade in brined Onions. 

 The social and economic conditions under which the industry is conducted 

 in the Netherlands differ in many respects from those existing in this 

 country, and these differences must be taken into account in any attempt 

 to institute a comparison between the expenses of cultivation on the 

 Dutch small holdings and on the large market-gardens in the Biggleswade 

 district. For instance, it has been suggested that the cost of labour in 

 Holland is so much cheaper than in this country, that it has enabled the 

 Dutch exporters to undersell the British producer. But it has already 

 been pointed out that the Dutch gardeners may themselves be regarded 

 as labourers, inasmuch as they perform practically the whole of the work 

 on their holdings, with the aid of their wives and children. They are a 

 sober, hard-working class with little or no ambition, and their standard 

 of living is of the humblest description. In seasons of low prices, 

 such as is the case this year, the Dutch cultivator is worse off than a 



