A story of bananas.

[Music] [Applause] bananas a gift of the Americas to the world are cultivated and grown in all Central America upper South America and the West [Music] Indies plash and developments in the tropics recall to us the pioneering Spirit of our old west this tropical for must be conquered by an army of Engineers and agricultural experts to transform them into verdant areas of green gold the largest banana plant in the world looking for a possible these experts are making tests of the soil to report the conditions in the desired areas soil tests are made in the different sections of the mapped area and the results recorded these men have had many years experience with tropical soils and recognize immediately the Earth suitable for banana [Applause] culture at the district headquarters of The New Plantation draftsmen map out the topography and record the reports of the soil experts with this razor sharp Blade the machete native workers attacked the enemy tropical undergrowth to clear the way for planting [Music] operations machetes to the right of them machetes to the left of them these tireless workers cut their way through a tropical Wilderness to conquer the soil for the new banana plantation the men cut out the underbrush in this surveyed area in order to make way for the digging of the drainage ditches proper drainage is a necessity for good banana culture in this humid country where the annual rainfall is from 80 to 200 [Music] in modern drag line Machinery speeds the work of digging the new main drainage ditches which carry off the excess water from the secondary ditches to nearby Rivers skilled laborers with an Eagle Eye for accuracy and good judgment for distance are employed for the lining and staking operation each stake is placed 14 ft in each Direction the distance measured by the pole 14 ft in length our stakeholding assistant is an apprentice and is starting out young to learn the art of lining and staking [Music] our technical expert points out the location of the banana tree that is to be planted at the foot of each Ste each tree a uniform distance from the [Music] other the ever faithful mule so indispensable to work in the tropics shoulders a burden of root stocks for planting as the seeds of the banana are rarely developed planting is done with pieces of root stocks called romes after the adult tree Bears its fruit it is chopped down a short time later a chute Sprouts from the unders surface of the stem it grows laterally underground turns downward swelling into a bulb where the food is stored several choots appear and careful selection is made to pick the strongest shoot for the new plant for new planting the size of the reome varies some weigh 20 lb much care is taken to see that each root stock or reome has two or more eyes or choots from which the new plant is to grow the Rome is planted in a hole about 14 in deep the soft lomy soil necessary for banana culture is a result of the rotting of tropical vegetation for many years the once green vegetation of many years ago has provided an ideal soil for the cultivation of the [Music] banana before the young plants lift their leafy shoots to a blue sky the larger trees are felled huge jungle Giants fall before the ax of man tree cutting is an expensive operation more so when a strong gust of wind blows this 15 ft diameter tree across the site of The New Plantation railroad the smaller trees are cut by one man working for many hours but the larger tropical Giants resist the sharp axes of six men for many days these Kings of the tropical forest will never again reign supreme in little more than a year the delicate banana plant will be ready to deliver its first bunch of bananas heavy rainfalls make it necessary for each Plantation to maintain a system of secondary drainage ditches to carry off water that otherwise might cause serious flood damage strong sturdy levies guard the plantations against flood level Rivers during the rainy season throughout the year special crews are detailed to maintain levies and clear secondary drains of debris [Music] 3 months after planting the banana plant grows surprisingly fast tropical weeds seem to grow equally as fast and if proper cleaning is not maintained periodically the growth of the plant will be [Music] [Applause] twice the size of a man this plant of 6 months has practically reached its full size the native worker is engaged in trimming the shoots from the less vigorous eyes of the original reone [Music] both of these plants are the same age through proper underbrushing the plant to the left develop normally whereas tropical weeds the full development of the plant to the right at 9 months let us cut the trunk of this plant to see the stem which actually Bears the bunch of fruit growing up through the center of the stalk by cutting away the outer layers the fruit bearing stem is readily seen pushing its way up through the center and here's the stem with its tiny embryo bananas beginning to form the overlapping construction of the banana plant is shown here to Advantage the banana plant because of its size is often called a tree but this is not true because it contains no wood the main stem of the plant is composed of thick leaves tightly wrapped overlapping one another the the new leaves grow from the center pushing out the older leaves thus enlarging the trunk which measures from 9 to 16 in in diameter at M much like an ear of corn in the husk we see the bud purple in color just before developing into the blossom back of which comes the first sign of the [Music] fruit at the age of 12 months the bananas Point outward and upward W and remain in that position till they are fully grown the modern radio play important role in this 20th century Enterprise the banana industry a fleet of almost 100 Swift modern refrigerated banana ships is directed by radio to supply the everyday demand for bananas in the United States to deliver 50,000 Bunches of bananas in less than 24 hours after receiving cutting orders by radio is just part of a day's work headquarters cutting orders are Tel phone to nearby plantations where they are relayed to The Cutting Cruise the men ride and walk from their nearby Village Homes to saddle their mules with soft matted pads especially designed to carry [Music] bananas this soft pad-like saddle offers ample protection to the freshly cut stems while being transported on the back of the mule to the nearby waiting tram cars each mule can carry four stems of bananas in this matted [Music] saddle the Cutters carry a long pole with a razor sharp blade on the end especially designed for banana cutting operations the mules engaged in the cutting operations realize their importance in transporting with great care the bananas from the plantation area to the tram car loading station [Music] the mules have developed a slow but Dependable step that is necessary to carry the freshly cut bananas out of the plantation a typical Cutting Crew consists of a cutter a backer and a mule man before entering the plantation area let us meet the cutter and his long cutting [Music] pole and the backer who shoulders quite some responsibility as a matter of fact could you smile like this with 100 lb on your shoulder and last but not least the mule man and his faithful mule let us Follow The Cutting Crew into the plantation area where we find the bananas ready for cutting the cutter a man of years of experience is able to determine by size and color of the bananas those stems which he desires to cut [Music] the cutter carefully Nicks the trunk several feet below the bunch of [Music] bananas the weight of the bananas causes the tree to break at the point of cutting the cutter carefully steadies the upper part of the tree as the weight of the bunch of bananas slowly pulls the top of the tree to the eager hands of the backer who receives the bananas on his sturdy [Music] shoulder the cutter then severs the bunch from the tree with a trusty thrust of the machete while the backer carries his burden of green bananas to the foot of a nearby tree the mule man picks up the cut fruit and fastens it securely to the back of the already burdened [Music] mule with a full load of four stems the always Dependable mule makes his way through the dense Plantation area emerging from the plantation the muan leads his beast of burden to the tram car receiving station where the freshly cut stems are [Music] unloaded after remaining here for a short time the fruit is then picked up and placed in an upright position in the empty tram car the bananas are now ready to start on their long journey to the United States and route to The Waiting railroad banana cars we ride the tram car loaded with bananas passing through a fascinating Splendor of riotous green arriving at the railroad sighing we find the banana cars waiting to receive these freshly cut stems Special Care is taken to carefully pad the interior of the the banana car so the fruit will not become damaged in any way while in rout to the hold of the banana [Music] ship the stem is lifted gently from the tram car placed on a special pad of soft dry leaves where rigid inspection takes place before the fruit is placed in the car for shipment the cars loaded with thousands of stems of bananas are made up into trains some 50 cars long and the locomotives chug their way through miles of banana plantations on the last lap of the [Music] journey the arrival of the banana boats causes considerable excitement in the banana ports it's an all day job to fill the holds of these banana ships each boat has a different capacity but the average load is 45,000 stems all loaded on board ship in a comparatively short time the Bunches of bananas are carefully inspected before being placed in the loading machine many bunches are rejected because they are too ripe the ripness again is determined by the color of the bananas the bananas are transferred from the railroad cars to the soft leather pockets of the loading machine and are lifted gently into the hatch of the ship before they reach the lower decks they are given a final [Music] inspection continuous leather conveyor belts are also used to load the bananas on the [Music] ship the signal given our officers start their massive craft while we watch the swirling Waters far below our decks our ship well out to sea the officers of the boat check the thermometers in the refrigeration compartments to make certain that the proper temperature is maintained steaming swiftly through the Deep Blue Waters of a tropical climate our modern ler with its cargo of emerald tinted fruit arrives at its destination [Music] no sooner has the ship been fastened to the dock than there is brisk activity as the unloading Machinery Finds Its way into the very depths of the ship to lift the bananas gently out of the hold to avoid a sudden temperature change a special canvas Shield is pulled into position the Bunches of bananas are taken from the pockets of the unloading machine and placed on conveyor belts at different points on the belts the fruit is transferred to another moving belt where the fruit is classified according to Quality and the number of hands on the stem these conditions determine the car in which they are to be placed as well as the distance they are to travel an automatic counting device keeps accurate check on the number of stems that enter each car once in the refrigerator cars the bananas are placed in an upright position resting on the butt end special braces prevent any shifting of the fruit while in transit [Music] the cars loaded with bananas are taken from the duck side and moved to the main lines where they are dispatched to different sections of the [Music] country in cold weather these insulated cars are heated to maintain the fruit at proper temperature while in the summer season the cars are iced to prevent the fruit from ripening in transit [Music] from time to time special inspectors board the train to report the condition of the fruit on the last lap of its Journey from Plantation to Consumer have you ever had the latest Fountain Delight the banana skyscraper surely a treat for all who care to indulge new table uses for this delicacy include this delicious dish the baked [Music] banana banana nut bread Shortcake muffins and popular banana salads offer a wide variety of tempting dishes while mashed strained fully ripe banana pulp is recommended by doctors as one of the first solid foods to be given to baby this is the story of bananas one of the great gifts of the Americas to the world [Music]