Cabbage

Directed by Mary Field

A Secrets of Life short to which the BFI gave this description: "The film falls into two related sections: the first part shows, by fast motion... the germination, growth-characteristic and fertilisation of the wild cabbage; the second part shows how the varied forms of cultivated cabbage - Savoys, Brussels sprouts, cauliflowers, sprouting broccoli - are related to the wild form, by illustrating the particular feature of the wild form that is present to an exaggerated degree in the cultivated variety... A very good example of how to deal with familiar gardening knowledge in an interesting manner, while at the same time using everyday facts to bring home the scientific lessons that can be drawn therefrom... Perhaps the most striking portions of the whole film are the sections showing which parts of the wild form have been greatly developed to produce the Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, or the Savoy cabbage."