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A Skeleton in the Crop

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Ever since Skeleton Weed was first discovered in Australia 50 years ago, farmers and scientists have been searching for a way to stop it spreading through the wheatlands of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

This is the story of their search. It tells of the early frustations over failure to eradicate the weed, the hostility of wheat farmers faced with a problem they did not understand, and their growing appreciation of the role of scientific research in devising the best methods of keeping Skeleton Weed in check.

Produced in 1969.

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12:01:19 | B/W - archival footage, horses mustered along country roads
12:01:56 | B/W - sacks of fodder emptied into troughs
12:02:20 | Skeleton weed plants in fields
12:02:23 | Title over Skeleton weed
12:02:32 | LS - pasture under cloud flecked sky, CU - wheat plants
12:02:49 | Int. - Austin Seccombe
12:03:16 | Skeleton weed plant growing in a haystack, haystacks
12:03:29 | Skeleton weed. in pasture - CU plant
12:03:44 | Exterior - National Herbarium, Sydney
12:03:47 | B/W still - Mr. J.H. Maiden
12:03:52 | Specimen plant in folder
12:04:00 | B/W archival footage - harvesting wheat using horses, men sewingup filled sacks
12:04:19 | B/W stills - harvesting crops and horse drawn cultivators
12:05:12 | Int. - Eric Cuthbertson
12:06:00 | E.C. holding cut piece of skeleton weed
12:06:11 | B/W - horse-drawn cultivation of field
12:06:55 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution of s.w.
12:07:09 | Still - sketches of farmers at meeting
12:07:35 | Int. - Jim Daley
12:08:29 | Int. - Sir George Currie
12:09:40 | B/W sketch - committee meeting
12:10:11 | Chemicals in jars on shelves including common salt
12:10:41 | CU - skeleton weed growing
12:10:59 | B/W printed pages - illustration and scripts, stills
12:11:36 | Int. - Jim Daley
12:13:21 | B/W - mustering sheep, running through gate
12:13:49 | CU pasture with subterranean clover
12:14:18 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution s.w.
12:14:35 | B/W - mechanised harvesting of wheat
12:15:01 | Exterior - Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research, U.S.A.
12:15:09 | B/W stills - Dr. P.W. Zimmerman and A.E. Hitchcock, interior glasshouses
12:15:31 | B/W stills - Exterior ICI labs, Jealots Hill, interior glasshouses,plant research, field work, research buildings
12:16:23 | Interior - library, scientific journals on shelves, open pages
12:16:43 | B/W - Australia - Research buildings, field trial of herbicide
12:16:58 | Int. - Dr. Milton Moore
12:17:38 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution skeleton weed.
12:17:57 | LS - crop, wheat plants in sandy soil, skeleton weed rosettes betweenplants and rows
12:18:21 | Mallee Research Station sign
12:18:32 | Int. - Mac McCann
12:19:52 | Mallee country - utility stops by gate, driver opens gate
12:20:20 | Field trials - plant sampling in field using square grid, Lucerneplants
12:20:48 | Field trials - Volunteer pasture - mostly skeleton weed, Lucerneplants - very little s.w.
12:21:24 | White cloud in sky, harvesting wheat, fallow spraying, CU crop
12:22:13 | Mr. Winton Turnbull picking skeleton weed plants in Canberra nearParliament, carrying plants up Parliament steps
12:23:22 | Coat of arms plaque above entrance to old Parliament House
12:23:30 | Dr. Charles Greenham working in lab, Int. - Dr. C.G. in lab withskeleton weed in flask
12:25:15 | ICI lab Merrindale - spraying pot plants to test herbicide action
12:26:10 | Entrance Dow Chemical Company
12:26:19 | Tordon weedkiller pack, field trials using Tordon on crops and pastures- filling containers and spraying from multi-nozzle spray onto areanear research vehicle
12:27:29 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution skeleton weed
12:27:47 | Committee meeting Technical sub committee of skeleton weed research
12:28:33 | University of Montpellier, France, research station, CU skeletonweed
12:29:11 | Tractor pulled cultivator
12:29:27 | Vineyard - skeleton weed in foreground, Montpellier
12:29:43 | Mobile lab pulls up by vineyard, researchers collect skeleton weedandexamine in lab
12:30:13 | Skeleton weeds with green galls, and with brown pustules on leaves
12:30:45 | Testing organisms on cultivated plants in pots
12:30:58 | Interior - mobile lab
12:31:03 | Skeleton weed at roadside, car passes
12:31:33 | CU wheat field, harvesting wheat
12:32:13 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution skeleton weed,with area controlled by pasture legumes
12:32:33 | Clover pasture, plants, skeleton weed overgrown, skeleton weed rosetteleaves
12:33:26 | Wheat field - growing plants with skeleton weed, spraying fieldat rosette stage, spot spraying isolated skeleton weed plants
12:34:22 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution skeleton weed andareas of skeleton weed control
12:34:33 | Skeleton weed rosettes, Lucerne and skeleton weed, wheat plants
12:34:53 | Wheat sown on sandy soil strip, healthy wheat crop strip
12:35:10 | Sparse wheat plants, some skeleton weed in sandy Mallee soil, healthywheat crop
12:35:30 | Graphics - map SE Australia showing distribution skeleton weed andareas of skeleton weed control
12:35:45 | Stunted wheat in Mallee with skeleton weed
12:35:59 | Skeleton weed plant in sandy soil
12:36:03 | View across Mallee fields, skeleton weed, researcher examining plantsin field
12:37:03 | Sparse stunted crop, skeleton weed
12:37:26 | Spraying pot plants from bottle in lab
12:37:34 | Farmer and researcher walk through wheat field, pull up skeletonweed plant
12:37:57 | Credits
12:38:31 | End