Crops for Piclding and Preserving. 
719 
The other disease, known as " stale rot," attacks the crown 
after pulling, and whilst the bulbs are stored, so that it is not 
discovered until they are handled. 
The operations of peeling and brining are not generally 
understood, but as they enter into the pickle-grower's business 
they may be briefly described. 
The onions are brought to sheds, and are there sifted with 
the object of removing the bulbs which are too big for pickling, 
and also to clean them to some extent. The suitable ones are 
then handed over to women or children, whose duty it is to cut 
off the tops and bottoms, and to peel off the outer skins until the 
bulbs are free from deeply coloured portions. These after being 
inspected are thi*own into a large tub of fresh water and washed, 
after which they are placed on sieves and separated into different 
sizes. In all, five sizes are made up : the smallest are the most 
valuable and are called " pimps," while the others grade as 
firsts, seconds, thirds, and fourths, the last named, rather more 
than an inch in diameter, being the largest which are received in 
the trade. The onions are next placed in water and well washed, 
after which they are put into separate barrels, and when the 
barrels will hold no more a strong brine is poured into them, and 
they are coopered up. The work, so far as the briner is concerned, 
is now finished, except that from time to time it is necessary to fill 
up the barrels with brine, as loss arises from evaporation, and 
also from shrinkage of the onion itself. The process of brining 
is necessary to destroy what is known as the " vegetable " in the 
onion, that is, the green colouring, which the brine does in course 
of time. Some manufacturers will not use onions until they 
have been in brine at least a year. It is very largely due to the 
circumstance that they are not brined that home-made pickles 
are not so bright and clear as those made by large firms. The 
quality of the water is an important factor, for, if it is too hard 
and the onions are left in it for a day or two, they become black. 
As showing what a quantity may be grown on one farm, 
it may be mentioned that in 1889 Messrs. King brined 4,000 
casks, which were the produce of about 90 acres ; this year 
they grew 130 acres, and the yield is much greater per acre. 
In addition to this, they will brine something like 1,000 barrels 
of cauliflowers and about 400 to 500 barrels of cucumbers 
and gherkins, all the produce of their farms. Others interested 
in pickling and brining grow their own material, besides occa- 
sionally purchasing from smaller growers. During the past few 
years considerable quantities of pickling onions have been im- 
ported from Russia and other countries where labour is cheap. 
Though it is to the interest of the English farmer not to allow 
