FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
20/ 
average temperature conditions in an or¬ 
dinary iced car in transit. The pre¬ 
cooled lots held in Palmetto were all held 
on the floor of the holding car. The 
holding lots were removed for in¬ 
spection five days after the comple¬ 
tion of the precooling, or six days 
after cutting, then held for three days in 
a warehouse and inspected again. 
RESULTS OF EXPERIMETS. 
Holding Lots :-—The following tables 
give a summary of the results obtained in 
16 full experimental lots held in Palmetto, 
as regards the general market condition 
of the lettuce treated in different ways, 
as well as the comparative amounts pres¬ 
ent of two of the most serious troubles 
affecting lettuce in transit; “lettuce drop” 
rotting, and a bacterial rot. 
table i. 
MARKET CONDITION. SIXTEEN EXPERIMENTS 
HELD IN PALMETTO. 
At with- 3 days after 
drawal withdrawal 
Repacked Undis¬ 
turbed 
r-H 
d 
»“H 
d 
d 
•f-H 
*!—» 
O 
0 
O 
r-i 
rH 
r —1 
CD 
r—1 
< D 
0 
3 
3 
g 
£ 
£ 
O 
Sh 
g 
0 ) 
£ 
<U 
£ 
d 
0 
d 
0 
d 
O 
O 
. O 
O 
0 
O 
O 
Regular Iced: 
% Prime . 90.0 40.1 32.2 3.4 
Total % marketable... 100.0 93.3 87.3 51.3 
Precooled: 
% Prime . 98.4 70.9 65.6 15.8 
Total % marketable. .. 100.0 99.5 90.0 75.6 
31.8 
81.5 
53.8 
94.3 
4.1 
49.5 
9.4 
63.4 
TABLE II. 
PER CENT DECAY SIXTEEN EXPERIMENTS 
HELD IN PALMETTO. 
At with- 3 days after 
drawal withdrawal 
Repacked Undis¬ 
turbed 
£3 <-h r3 r * >—* 
£ «H £ 
2 - g 2 £ £ 
cS o d o cj 
o u o u o 
Regular Iced: 
Slight Drop Rotting.... 8.6 36.2 27.1 25.6 22.9 19.8 
Bad Drop Rotting .... 1.4 22.5 25.5 69.2 30.0 73.8 
Total Drop Rotting ... 10.0 58.7 52.6 94.8 52.9 93.6 
Bacterial Rotting . 0.0 2.4 7.5 5.8 7.8 9.2 
Precooled: 
Slight Drop Rotting .... 1.6 24.0 14.6 36.5 22.6 25.0 
Bad Drop Rotting . 0.0 4.5 11.1 41.8 13.7 57.3 
Total Drop Rotting _ 1.6 28.5 25.7 78.3 36.3 82.3 
Bacterial Rotting . 0.0 0.7 2.6 3.4 6.4 8.5 
As used in Table I, the term “Market¬ 
able” was made to include all those 
heads which it was thought could be used 
in any class of market. Some of these 
showed rather severe rotting in the outer 
leaves and would not be suitable for first 
class trade, but in every case the greater 
part of the head was still sound and 
edible. 
The most striking point brought out 
by the tables given above is the marked 
effect of careful cutting in improving 
the carrying quality of- the lettuce. By 
far the greatest amount of decay was 
found to be due to “lettuce drop,” the 
same disease which causes so much dam¬ 
age in the field, and the method of cut¬ 
ting by which the infected lower leaves 
were kept out of the baskets resulted in 
a great reduction in the amount of decay 
which developed. Precooling also had a 
very decided effect in reducing the 
amount of “drop” rotting, cutting down 
the average amount at the first inspection 
from io.o per cent, to 1.6 per cent, in 
the careful cut, and from 58.7 per cent. 
a 
o 
3 
£ 
£ 
o 
a 
