MARKETING LETTUCE 15 
lettuce should not be thrown around roughly nor stacked in high 
piles. Unnecessary handling or packing with too high a bulge 
often causes excessive brusing. The lettuce should be moved into a 
cool place as quickly as possible after haiwesting, and kept clean and 
free from contact with defective stock or trimmings from diseased 
heads. 
LETTUCE PACKING HOUSES 
The western lettuce packing house usually consists of a simple 
covered platform or shed, although in some cases the buildings are 
more substantial and are used for packing other commodities as well. 
The packing equipment proper consists of a long packing table 
divided into padded bins or compartments, one for each packer. 
The trimmers and packers work on opposite sides of the table. The 
field crates are delivered to the trimmer who cuts off a part of the 
stem from each head, trims away a few outer leaves, and places the 
head in the bin. The large and extremely solid heads go into one 
end of the bin and the small or inferior heads in the other. 
The packer arranges the heads in the paper-lined crates on a con- 
venient stand next to the table and places the crushed ice between 
the layers. The ice for the crates is usually prepared with a long- 
handled ice shaver or " spud," although some shippers use power- 
driven ice-crushing machines. Some houses are equipped with roller 
conveyors to facilitate handling the packed crates. 
In some of the chief lettuce sectiors commercial packing has de- 
veloped into an important factor in the industry. In the Imperial 
Valley there is scarcely a loading point that does not have at least 
one commercial packing house. These houses are operated by cor- 
porations, firms, or individuals, who make a practice of packing 
lettuce for small independent growers, charging for this service on 
the basis of the number of packed crates. This charge includes 
crates, paper, crate ice, and all labor required in the packing house 
and in loading the crates into the cars. 
LOADING AND SHIPPING METHODS 
Loading of lettuce into cars for shipment is a matter of vital 
importance in the marketing of this commodity. Much waste may 
be prevented by proper car loading. 
Lettuce is highly perishable, and delivery in good condition re- 
quires that it shall not undergo frequent or extreme changes in tem- 
perature after harvesting. Consequently, car-lot shipments are made 
in refrigerator cars almost exclusively. Cars as a rule are equipped 
with floor racks, as these promote the rapid circulation of air about 
the load. 
To avoid confusion in the use of terms describing the various ele- 
ments making up a car load, the standard nomenclature adopted by 
the United States Department of Agriculture will be employed in 
this discussion. These terms and their meanings are as follows: 
Layer. — A course or stratum of the load in a car, one package in 
height. 
Stack. — A pile of packages extending from one side of the car to 
the other, one package in length. 
Row. — A pile of packages extending lengthwise of the car, one 
package in width. 
