Corn

Year Published: 1928

Format: 16mm

Description: Glad you enjoyed it! This silent, tinted film was created in 1928 by Eastman Classroom Films (a division of Kodak) to be a tool for education of students (:13). It shows the students silent images of the life of corn. A man picks at corn stalks (:16) checking for quality. A group of women sit in a circle husking corn following the harvest (:33). A close shot shows the tool in one of the woman’s hand used for husking the stalks (:52). A young couple dances among the group of locals (1:03) as a small band plays them on. Seed ears are selected (1:29). Good stalks are set into a basket (1:41). Corn ears are set onto sticks to dry (1:59). Horses drag a hoe across the land (2:22). The soil is tilled for new seeds (2:29). After setting to dry, the seeds are tested (2:55). Chosen seeds are rolled in a cloth to be germinated (3:13). The rolled piece is stuck into water (3:15) and set into a pan for several days. A farmworker unrolls the pack with seeds (3:43) to show they have begun to sprout. A fully grown ear of corn follows (3:51). Corn is removed from the ends of the stalk (4:03). A primitive wooden machine separates the corn from the cob (4:18). These are then sifted (4:27). The seeds are then spread evenly in the dirt (4:53). The film turns to show the process of cultivation as a modern tractor rides down the corn field (5:09). The tassels and leaves of the corn are seen reaching over the dirt continuing to grow (5:37). After harvest the corn field is planted with more corn seeds (5:57) as a man moves down the rows checking leaves. The process of producing silage is looked at (6:12). Corn is pulled from the rows as a tractor moves down the line (6:25). The corn is then delivered to the silo (6:38). A man inspects the ripeness of the corn here (7:13). Prime stalks are chosen and removed (7:25) and set in piles on the grounds (7:37). The film turns to show how to avoid the corn borer which is a moth of the family Crambidae and a pest of grain (8:24). As the stalk is cut open, the corn borer is made visible (8:28). The farmers set fire to the cultivated field here in order to clear the fields of stubble, weeds and waste prior to planting a new crop (8:58). Corn is husked here (9:15). Close shots slowed down show the farmer pulling the corn with ease from the leafy stalk (9:48). Another shot shows the farmer’s palm held husking tool (9:53). Local farmers move into town for a husking competition (10:11). Farmers work down the rows rapidly as the game begins (10:38). The husks are counted and collected in a white farmhouse (10:47). Farm machinery works to shell the corn for the market (11:03). Corn seeds are funneled into a large bin (11:22). A child plays in the falling corn (11:29). A massive load of corn is unloaded from a rail car (11:55). A sample is pulled (12:06). The process of making corn flakes cereal and corn starch follows (12:43). Hardened slabs of the corn starch are pulled and crumbled (13:03). Stock is fed here which is one of the more common uses for corn (13:15). Pigs are tossed their feed (13:39). The film concludes with a young boy choosing a hefty pumpkin and walking off screen (13:57).