Imperial Valley press., 1923-12-04
Lettuce Men
Pay 75c Car
For Inspection
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forcefully in q general discussion of
the new law that Imperial Valley
growers should realize "that the
consumer who keeps the industry
going, should be given firs t
thought Lee closed his remarks
by stating emphatieally that "lm-
perial Valley will never overproduce
quality goods
Farm Advisor f. L. Garthwaite
spoke for the agricultural extension
service, expressing the desire of this
department to assist producers of
the valley, and mentioning some Of
the specific ways jim which they be-
lieved they could be of service to
the lettuce and cantaloupe growers.
Garthwaite also said that an expert
from the state university would be
in the valley about December 10 and
that any lettuce growers who wished
to discuss disease problems or ferti-
lization should notify the agricul-
tural extension service i'll advance,
so that the expert s time could be
arranged accordingly.
In addition to shippers and grow
ers who attended the meeting, a rep
resentative group of men of the
county were present, including w.
H. Brooks, chairman of the board
of supervisors; Asselnblyman George
Herrick Davis, w. C. Garrett, presi-
dent of the Imperial Valley Bank
ers' association; George NJ. Austin,
vice president of the Imperial
County Farm Bureau; Mike Liebert,
chairman of the legislative commit
tee of the grand jury and a Farm
Bureau director; j. Roy Adams of
the board of supervisors; c. c. Jen-
kins. manager of the Farm Bureau.
Utley's Interpretation
District Attorney Utley's inter
pretation of the act, in addition to
the portion printed exclusively in
the Press yesterday, follows:
"Section states that lettuce
shall be virtually uniform in quality,
which means that the quality of the
lettuce in the bottom and center
layer of each crate shall be equally
as good as that on the top layer.
"Mature shall mean a degree of
ripeness fit for shipment.
Virtually free from insect, nem-
atode and fungus pests, rots, bruises,
frost injury, sunburn, and other Sc
rious defects, shall mean that the
total defects shall not exceed 10 per
cent in any one package of fruits
or vegetables, and that there shall
not be more than per cent of any
one defect.
''Virtually uniform in size shall
mean that the lettuce does not vary
widely in the package. Not to ex-
eeed % per cent in variation.
"Firm head of lettuce shall mean
a compactness of texture, so that the
head feels solid.
'fFairly firm shall mean com
pactness of texture such that the
head is neither spongy nor soft.
"Soft shall mean spongy or leafy;
other serious defects are: Bursted
heads. slime, and seed stems.
"When packed in layers there
shall be approximately the same nu-
mercial count in each layer through
out container having straight sides,
shall mean the actual count in each
layer shall not exceed one head of
lettuce TO the layer.
"Section 7 gives the dimensions
of a standard lettuce crate as fol
lows: Depth inside in inches, 13;
width inside in inches, 18; length
inside in inches, not less than 21A /;
length outside in inches, not more
than 2412.
''Section says that you may
mark a container Of lettuce within
three of the true count any months
of the year except January, Febru-
ary and March. A tolerance of
three heads TO the crate shall mean
not more than one head TO each
layer and when this tolerance is used
il does not relieve the responsibility
of marking the crate with the ac-
tual number of heads contained
,hapain /, -