
The harvester is operated by a person seated on one side of the machine. The camera films, from various positions, the harvester as it is guided along the edge of the cane field. Men walk behind the harvester bunching together the discarded cane tops. The camera pans across slightly to capture the cane being discharged in bunches from the hopper. In another fixed view, the harvester is seen moving towards the camera. Summary by Poppy de Souza.
In the final shot of this clip, it is possible to make out the discarded ‘trash’ that is removed through air blasts at the top of the harvester. These contaminants are blown through slats that eject them upwards.
This promotional documentary for the mechanical Falkiner Cane Harvester incorporates animated sketches, intertitles and live-action examples to demonstrate how the harvester operates in the cane fields of Bundaberg, Queensland.
The Falkiner Cane Harvester was one of the first mechanical harvesters to be developed for the cutting of cane. Until this time, cane cutting was done manually, and only decades earlier had been done by indentured Melanesian labourers brought to Queensland to work in the cane fields. This manual harvesting of cane has been captured on film in South Sea Islanders Cutting Cane, 1899: Nambour, Qld and serves as a contrast to the clips shown here.
The intertitles throughout this film succinctly describe the action and parts of the harvester in detail. The intertitles use the symbol of the cane stalk as a border to frame the text, providing a direct link to the action they describe. The illustrations and animated sketches often precede a live-action demonstration and are both easy to understand and detailed enough to let audiences grasp the mechanics and design principles. These devices combine to give a lot of information in an effective and interesting way. Sections of the film focus on specific features of the harvester, including the ‘revolving knives’ that it uses to cut the cane from below the surface of the ground. Additionally, a willing volunteer points with a stick or their hand, to the part being described.
Aside from the opening title, there are no production details on this film, and its intended use therefore remains uncertain. It was deposited with the National Film and Sound Archive by the Queensland Cane Growers Organisation (now known as CANEGROWERS) and was possibly made by them or an associated organisation to promote the use of the mechanical harvester – a real innovation at the time.
Notes by Poppy de Souza
This black-and-white silent clip shows the operation of the mechanical Falkiner cane harvester, being demonstrated to members of the Australian Sugar Producers’ Association in Bundaberg, Queensland. It gathers up the cane, cuts it into lengths and then tosses the cut cane from the hopper. Shots show the driver, seated at the side of the machine, driving it past the camera. Other scenes display the long gatherers that project in front of the machine and draw the cane inside. An intertitle decorated with a sugar-cane motif describes one phase of the process.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.