BULLETIN" 601, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table I. — Average market conditions of nine experimental lots of carefully cut and com- 

 mercially cut lettuce shipped to northern markets during the season of 1913-14- 



Treatment. 



Nonprecooled: 



Prime heads per cent. . 



Marketable 1 heads ' »do — 



Precooled: 



Prime heads do 



Marketable heads . -. - -do 



At withdrawal. 



Carefully 

 cut. 



59.6 

 100 



71.5 

 100 



Commer- 

 cially cut, 



25.7 

 96.5 



33.7 

 99.6 



Three days after 

 withdrawal. 



Carefully 

 cut. 



46.4 

 99.2 



58 

 100 



Commer- 

 cially cut. 



17.3 

 91.8 



22.8 

 98.4 



1 The term "marketable" as used here includes all heads with sound hearts, even though the outer leaves 

 were in some cases more or less decayed. 



Figure 6 shows the very striking results of careful cutting. Where 

 the nonprecooled commercially handled lettuce on the first inspec- 

 tion shows a total decay of 44.5 per cent, the nonprecooled carefully 

 cut lettuce shows only 8.8 per cent of decay, or, in other words, the 

 method of cutting that keeps the infected lower leaves out of the 



PRECOOLED 



PER CENT DECAY 



UPON ARRIVAL 



15.1 CAREFUL &8ffi 



N0N PRECOOLED 



PER CENT DECAY 



mmiiiiinrmza commercial 44s nininnnniniu 

 THREE DAYS AFTER ARRIVAL 



BB93 CAR£FUL 15.31 



136.7 commercial sia nnn i mi i r rTmTTTTm 



Fig. 6. — Diagram illustrating the percentages of drop decay found upon arrival at the market and 

 three days later in precooled and in nonprecooled commercially cut and carefully cut lettuce 

 shipped from Palmetto, Fla., in the season of 1913-11. 



hamper reduces the decay four-fifths. A single glance at the dia- 

 gram (fig. 6) shows the great difference between the carefully cut 

 and commercially cut lettuce both upon arrival at the market and 

 three days later, the short line in each case representing the decay 

 in the carefully cut and the long line the decay in the commercially 

 cut lots. The column on the left shows the average total decay in 

 the precooled lots, and the column on the right the decay in the non- 

 precooled lots. Precooling had the greatest effect on the commer- 

 cially cut lots. For example, the precooled commercially cut lettuce 

 showed an average of 27.2 per cent decay upon arrival, in contrast 

 to 44.5 per cent in the case of the nonprecooled. Precooling used in 

 connection with careful cutting gives the best results, as the figures 



