Excerpt from the report: Shipments of Western iceberg lettuce account for approximately 20 percent of all carlots of fresh fruits and vegetables shipped from California. Agricultural engineers in the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, have developed a mechanical lettuce harvester. With present packaging methods, the machine is limited by the rate at which the crew can trim and pack the lettuce coming off the machine. The purpose of the study was to provide up-to-date information on current practices, trends, and problems that are encountered during the handling and marketing of lettuce and to determine changes other commodity groups are making.