8 BULLETIN" 601, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP 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. 
At withdrawal. 
Three days after 
withdrawal. 
Carefully 
cut. 
Commer- 
cially cut. 
Carefully 
cut. 
Commer- 
cially cut. 
Nonprecooled: 
Prime heads per cent . . 
Marketable 1 heads do 
Preeooled: 
59.6 
100 
71.5 
100 
25.7 
96.5 
33.7 
99.6 
46.4 
99.2 
58 
100 
17.3 
91.8 
22.8 
Marketable heads . do 
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 
PREC00LED 
PER CENT DECAY 
N0N PREC00LED 
I 1— -r- 
UPON ARRIVAL 
PER CENT DECAY 
"• « 1 1 * 1 1 1 1 1 f- 
15.1 CAREFUL 8.8 HR 
11111111111112*3 COMMERCIAL 44S II m ilium 
THREE DAYS AFTER ARRIVAL 
■19.9 CAREFUL 15.3HHH 
Ml 181 Htlllllll 136.7 COMMERCIAL 5?« ni M i l II II i n TTTTTTTTm 
Fig. 6.— Diagram illustrating the percentages of drop decay found upon arrival at the market and 
three days later in preeooled and in nonprecooled commercially cut and carefully cut lettuce 
shipped from Palmetto, Fla., in the season of 1913-lt. 
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 preeooled lots, and the column on the right the decay in the non- 
precooled lots. Precoolmg had the greatest effect on the commer- 
cially cut lots. For example, the preeooled 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 
