The Grain That Built a Hemisphere  (1943) - video Dailymotion

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00:00 [ Music ]

00:21 >> Corn is the symbol of a spirit that links the Americas

00:25 in a common bond of union and solidarity.

00:29 The exact ancestry of corn is a matter of doubt.

00:32 Corn as we know it today could not have existed in the wild.

00:36 Many scientists believe that it developed from teosinte, which has a tassel like corn.

00:44 But unlike corn, the ears grow in clusters and are composed of a few kernels arranged end

00:51 to end instead of growing on a cob.

00:56 Others believe the ancestor of corn was a plant resembling modern gamma grass.

01:01 This plant had several tassels which contained both male pollen and female seeds.

01:06 The lower part of the tassel contained the female seeds shown in red.

01:11 And the upper part contained the male pollen shown in yellow.

01:15 In the course of evolution, the tassels at the top produced only male pollen.

01:21 The tassels on the branches only female seeds.

01:26 These branches shortened.

01:28 And their tassels were enclosed by husks.

01:32 Later, the tassels developed into a crude ear.

01:36 This early ancestor of corn grew on the sunny slopes of the high cordilleras many centuries ago.

01:46 Its glistening pods went unnoticed by the roving hunter,

01:50 for he was intent only on his search for game.

01:54 [ Music ]

02:08 The Indian lived on what he could kill.

02:10 To eat and sleep was all that he asked.

02:14 As long as game was plentiful, he lived well.

02:16 But there were times when game grew scarce.

02:19 The search for food drove him far and wide.

02:23 Wearied and hungry, he resorted to eating roots.

02:28 But that was not enough.

02:30 It was then that the waving tassels of grain drew his eye.

02:34 [ Music ]

02:39 He had now found a practical solution to his food problem.

02:42 And so through his discovery of corn, the civilization of the Americas began.

02:48 With a crude clam shell hole, he dug the earth, planted his very best kernels.

02:56 An offering to the corn gods was made to ensure an abundant crop.

03:02 At every harvest, he selected his finest ears for seed and blessed them in the sacred waters

03:08 of salt, which he believed improved its growth.

03:13 Because corn was so vital to his existence, he erected great temples to the corn gods.

03:20 The civilization of the Mayas was built around the growth and worship of corn.

03:25 [ Music ]

03:29 Yumcosh was the green god, patron of growing corn.

03:34 An amazing calendar was developed by the Maya to chart his planting and harvesting.

03:40 To the gods who held the four corners of the earth, this symbol for planting was dedicated.

03:46 The Maya planted four grains to the hill.

03:49 And today, many farmers still plant four seeds to the hill.

03:53 One for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow.

03:59 A few centuries later, the Aztecs rose to power.

04:04 Their great civilization, too, was built on corn.

04:08 Sintiotl was their corn goddess.

04:12 Patliquay was mother earth.

04:14 Human lives were sacrificed to her that their blood might increase her fertility.

04:20 In the Andes existed one of the greatest civilizations of the ages, the Incas.

04:26 They farmed in terraces far up the steep mountainsides.

04:29 They worshiped the sun god on whose bounty they depended for their precious corn.

04:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:41 They developed corn with giant kernels, three times regular size.

04:45 Corn migrated into the Argentine, Brazil, across the Rio Grande, far north into Canada.

04:57 Corn was carried to Europe by the conquistadores, to North Africa by the Barbary pirates.

05:03 Corn has grown along the Danube, the Nile, in South Africa, India, China,

05:08 a vital force in the economic life of the world.

05:13 Corn is our heritage from the Indians.

05:16 From its golden kernels, we make tortillas, enchiladas, tamales.

05:22 He gave us cornbread, hominy, succotash, corn mush, forerunners of cornflakes.

05:29 He taught us the joys of eating popcorn and roasting ears.

05:33 From the Indian, we learned to ferment corn.

05:38 The skill and patience of this early ancestor created a new civilization,

05:43 to him we owe much.

05:46 Today, we plow a dozen furrows at a time, plant many acres in a day,

05:51 pick and husk by machine.

05:54 We do in 15 hours what the early Maya required 500 to do.

06:01 Much has been learned about corn, the most important of which is inbreeding.

06:06 Now to accomplish this, a paper sack is slipped over the tassel.

06:10 Then transparent bags are placed over the ear shoots, before the silks emerge,

06:16 to prevent pollinization from other plants.

06:21 When the silks are out and the tassel is shedding, pollen is released into the sack,

06:25 covering the tassel.

06:29 Now the bag is removed from the ear shoot, and the sack containing pollen is slipped

06:34 over the ear.

06:35 In this way, the silks are fertilized with pollen from the same plant.

06:40 This is known as inbreeding.

06:43 After each generation of inbreeding, the resulting seeds produce smaller corn,

06:48 until a pure strain is reached and sizes remain fixed.

06:52 This may seem odd to deliberately produce smaller plants, but just wait,

06:56 and we'll see what happens when two unrelated inbred strains are joined in wedlock.

07:03 My, my, what a child.

07:13 Higher stocks and increased yield, making better seed corn for bigger crops.

07:19 Of the total production of corn in the United States, 75% goes for feeding livestock,

07:25 cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and hogs.

07:31 More hogs make more little pigs, and more pigs make more little sausages,

07:35 and vice versa.

07:37 Corn increases the cream content, builds up little calves.

07:43 Heartless corn fattens the feeder from the range more economically than any other crop,

07:48 converting him into choicest beef.

07:52 And they love it, too.

07:54 Just watch.

07:55 [whistling]

08:18 Yes, sir, corn has what it takes.

08:21 And now comes the chemist who has discovered and developed many products from corn.

08:27 The kernel consists of two main parts, the endosperm and the germ,

08:33 from which oil is extracted, furnishing salad oil for your table, cooking oil for your kitchen.

08:40 From the endosperm, the chief product obtained is starch,

08:45 starch used in making ice cream, pudding, pies like Mother used to make,

08:51 and starch that stiffens your shirt.

08:54 Starch makes sizing for textiles, paste for the bill poster, and mucilage for postage stamps.

09:01 From starch comes glucose, rich golden syrup for cornbread, griddle cakes, jams, preserves.

09:10 In surgery, glucose replaces sugars lost from the blood.

09:14 Starch makes sugar, the sweet tooth of the corn, quick energy as candy.

09:20 It's the body and flavor of your soft drink, the boost in your beer.

09:25 Corn sugar is one of nature's most easily assimilated foods.

09:29 Doctors prescribe it, babies cry for it.

09:35 As science scans the glass of the future, it sees new vital uses for corn.

09:41 Alcohols for power fuels, high explosives, tires from corn, fabric for parachutes, better than silk,

09:49 plastics tougher than steel, for cars, for tanks, men of war, ships of peace,

09:56 farm machines, streamlined trains, and buildings of the future, of plastics, monuments to corn.

10:07 It's a far cry from those primitive days when the waving grain attracted the roving hunter.

10:13 Little did he realize the store of riches they contained.

10:18 The botanist called it Zea maze, that which sustains the Mayas.

10:23 How much more truly might we say today, that which sustains the world?

10:28 [Music]

10:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]

The Grain That Built a Hemisphere (1943)

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