British Pathe

Shirley, Birmingham.

M/S of an elderly man, John Woolman and his adult son Jack in a corner of their chrysanthemum nurseries (founded by John's father, Henry, in 1881). John is seated at a table watching Jack studying a red chrysanthemum under a microscope. C/U from Jack's point of view of...

Shirley, Birmingham.

M/S of an elderly man, John Woolman and his adult son Jack in a corner of their chrysanthemum nurseries (founded by John's father, Henry, in 1881). John is seated at a table watching Jack studying a red chrysanthemum under a microscope. C/U from Jack's point of view of the flower being held under the microscope. M/S of Jack passing the flower to his father who picks up a small pair of scissors from the table and starts snipping the petals off. C/U of John's very shaky hands cutting the flower. The narrator explains John is one the world's foremost authorities on chrysanthemums and he is currently carrying out cross pollination to produce a new variety.

C/U of pink chrysanthemums growing a large green house, tilt up to show a gardener attending to the flowers. M/S of John using a small brush to transfer pollen from the petal-less flower to flowers growing in the green house. C/U of the cross pollination process. To produce a new flower factors such as the history and genes of the parent plant have to be taken into consideration. Out of the thousands of seedlings only about ten are selected to cross pollinate, despite this many thousands of new varieties have been created. C/U of John - he is wearing a pair of magnified jeweller's glasses strapped to his head. C/U of John's hands at work. M/S of John cross pollinating, in the foreground another man is examining the flowers and chatting to John.

M/S of a gardener collecting seeds from enormous yellow chrysanthemums. C/U of the gardener's hands using the tip of a pencil to collect seeds. C/U of the gardener's face. C/U of the gardener's hands. The narrator gives a brief history of the flower - it originated in the far east and was introduced to this country in the 18th century. M/S of two gardeners picking bunches of flowers from the greenhouse. C/U of orange chrysanthemums about to be picked. M/S of a girl gathering the chrysanthemums in a bunch as they are passed to her by the gardener. M/S of a row of purple chrysanthemums being attended to by a gardener.