80 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



Lettuce 



The packages for head and leaf lettuce are somewhat 

 different. In the Southern states where head lettuce is 

 grown in the open field for the Northern markets, the 

 lettuce is generally marketed in half-barrel baskets, while 

 in the North where leaf lettuce is grown in greenhouses, 

 the products are packed in half-bushel veneer market bas- 

 kets, and in one-third and one-bushel boxes. 



All of the heads of lettuce will not reach the same stage 

 of development at the same time so that the field, frame 

 or house must be gone over several times, selecting each 

 time only those plants which have reached the proper de- 

 velopment. The plants are sorted and graded as they are 

 packed. In the Southern lettuce fields the plants are cut 

 and trimmed in the field and packed there or taken to the 

 packing house and packed. In the bottom layer of the 

 basket the heads are placed stem end down and the re- 

 mainder of the basket filled with stem end up, placing the 

 heads in the basket as neatly as possible, and in uniform 

 layers. 



With leaf lettuce the packing is done either flat or 

 stem end down, packing the basket or box as tight and 

 firm as possible without crushing the leaves. The leaves 

 will wilt and shrink somewhat after being cut, and for 

 that reason the packages need to be well filled, but not so 

 tightly as to heat, otherwise they will become slack before 

 reaching the market, and not bring as good a price as 

 might otherwise be had. 



Beans and Peas 



Beans and peas from the Southern trucking districts 

 are marketed in the same sort of half-barrel basket as is 

 used for lettuce. The packing is mostly done in the field, 

 each picker putting the produce directly into the package 

 without any additional sorting at the packing house. In 

 some sections these packages are covered with burlap and 

 in others a wooden lid is placed on each basket, thus mak- 



