Pinapple Culture (1956)

please Focus sharply and adjust the sound level this is a Paul Huffer production preview print l [Music] far out in the Blue Pacific a kindly sun looks down with friendly warmth on some of the most beautiful islands in all the world these are the tropical islands of Hawaii where nature is profuse in her gifts to man here graceful ferns hug the The Good Earth and drink in the gentle mist and Dew Laden leaves hide in the shadowed tangle of greenery in this Tropical Paradise grow the loveliest of orchids some red some gay tiger striped or decked in gentle lavender others in purest white or in gorgeous yellow on these islands a lavish blending of soil and sunshine of gentle winds and nourishing rains cause bananas papayas bread fruit and pineapples to grow in rare abundance wild pineapples take many forms and bear a slight resemblance to the fruit we know so well pineapples were not native to the Pacific Islands but were taken there from other parts of the world from South America this variety known as the smooth Cayenne was taken to the houses of Europe it was later distributed to various tropical countries and is now the principal commercial pineapple but the ordinary commercial varieties are the beginning not the end of the pineapple story during the early hundreds American scientists started one of the most amazing selection processes in the history of industrial farming they went into the pineapple fields combing and recing thousands of acres in their quest for worthy parents for the ideal pineapple as the search continued the choice was steadily narrowed down to those clones or families which produced the greatest uniformity in the size and quality of their fruit these men are checking on the development of various families or clones that are being grown experimentally eight plant families have been developed and it is from these that the finest pineapples are obtained there are many undesirable qualities in the ordinary pineapple it is wasteful and time consuming to pick a fruit with a collar of slips and remove these by hand the knobs at the base of some pineapples make preparation for canning difficult and costly well-formed fruit grown from selected stock lends itself readily to mechanized harvesting and the lack of knobs at the base of this pineapple simplifies the entire packing process here we see an example of man's ability to improve on nature by the exercise of patience and the use of natural laws this huge machine cuts down the old plants after the second harvest chops them into bits and spreads this material over the fields where it decomposes and enriches the soil the fields are plowed repeatedly until all previous vegetation has been turned under this practice promotes drainage and provides nutrition for maximum root development big disc Harrows then go through through the fields breaking up clouds and destroying weeds the final step in preparing the soil is known as floating the field the heavy drag leaves a fine smooth surface ready for planting tractors pull long bars equipped with sharp fingers which leave behind them the evenly spaced lines along which the young plants will soon grow following closely in its wake is one of agriculture's most ingenious machines moving steadily along the marked lines its most visible function is a laying of long black strips of mulch paper but first it turns a Furrow in which it deposits a special fertilizer finally two discs turn soil over the edges of the mulch paper to hold it in place this paper preserves moisture prevents weed growth and helps maintain the proper temperature around the plants here are three kinds of planting material at the left a sucker a slip in the middle and a crown at the right slips are preferred because they develop into harder plants and produce better fruit a month or two after harvest experienced Crews go into the fields and strip the most mature and well-developed slips for plan the choice slips are carefully laid on top of their mother plants to cure this ensures a healthy base from which Roots can start promptly after planting when cured the slips are collected by Crews of men working with long boom conveyors which load them into field trucks the trucks take the slips to the fields where workers scatter them along the rows of mulch paper the planting now gets underway and few tasks are more difficult or tiring nor more quickly done with back bent almost double the planter moves down the rows between the paper wasting no motion as he punches holes and in inserts the young plants at 12 1/2 in intervals already marked on the yard wide paper each man plants from 5,000 to 7,000 slips a day there are about 177,000 plants to the acre this machine is nearing Perfection and will someday make it unnecessary for men to do such tedious work The Machine's two giant pincers rising and falling in a steady easy Rhythm are surprisingly gentle they handle the young plants almost tenderly as each metal arm comes to the top of its stroke it seizes just one slip makes its downward swing punches a hole and inserts the plant in its proper position planted by hand or by Machine the neat rows fall into place and stretch in Long long trim columns across the plantations the far-reaching fields have added their beauty to the Glorious tropical landscape the young plants protected by the mulch paper are well started on their cycle of growth but require constant protection against weeds and insect pests these machines deposit a chemical solution which kills choking grasses and food devouring weeds the diet of healthy young pineapple plants must include plenty of nitrogen and other Foods this first spraying helps Supply this nourishment iron another vital plant food stuff is flung 100 ft across the fields in a fine wind blown spray but the low hanging booms must go back into action when it becomes NE necessary to combat insect life and all the while the job of fertilizing goes on every need for additional plant food has been determined and highly specialized machines are constantly supplying these needs about 17 months after planting a cluster of delicate buds indicate that the fruit is beginning to form and within a month the cluster shows the first sign of becoming cone shaped the flowering buds each one of them destined to become one of the eyes of the pineapple start blossoming at the bottom and spread toward the top a cross-section of the fruit about 18 months after planting shows how each flower is turning into a tiny fruitlet which presently combines with the others to form the whole fruit fruit meanwhile new suckers Sprout from the stem and the plant only recently a slip itself starts producing its own slip another step in the age-old miracle of self-perpetuation as the slips and suckers grow larger and stronger the pineapple looks more like its familiar self a full golden yellow for now within the spiral rows of coarse rough eyes there's a firm juice filled deliciously ripe pineapple the culture growing and packing of pineapples is a major industry in the Pacific Islands where the broad Fields reflect American scientific skill and the teamwork of men and machines