This 1968 film, presented by Sunkist Growers (:09), takes a look at the process of plotting, growing and packaging different types of citrus. It opens with shots of Valencia oranges, white grapefruit and tangerines (1:20) in orchards in Arizona and California (1:28). The industry of producing citrus spanned two time zones and covered 300,000 acres of land (1:52). This process begins with choosing the land that can support the growth of citrus fruits (2:27), and a tractor is seen working to prepare the land for trees and irrigation systems (2:31). Young trees are wrapped tightly and heading from the nursery to be planted into the land (2:42). For irrigation, water was at times sourced from wells which sat nearly 2,000 miles below the surface of the earth (3:25). A canal could also be used to drench large swaths of the land (3:31) and it was also possible to meter the water through holes in the pipes and into the trenches (3:46). After five years the trees would begin to bear fruit (4:05). Heaters were placed among the groves as well as wind machines which would pull warm air down and prevent the harvest from being ruined by frost (4:26). This was a billion-dollar industry which fostered its own machinery and one of these is used to trim a lemon grove (4:49). The fruits are then to be picked (5:50) and skilled pickers climb ladders or platforms to pull the fruits down without scratching or damaging them in any way (6:57). The citrus is then loaded in the Sunkist field bins which could hold up to 500 pounds of fruit (7:24). From the grove, they are moved to the packing house (7:53). All of the fruit is washed, brushed, dried and left with a protective polish (8:48). Lemons are the only fruit which follow a different process as they ripen better off of the tree (8:57). First, they are sorted into color (9:05) as this is what determines how long they were to rest and ripen for (9:05). The sorter is shown which contains sensitive photo electric cells that read the color of each piece (9:13). After they are rested, the lemons are too washed and will resume the regular packing process (9:33). For the grading step, experienced workers used their judgement to direct the fruits to their best market grade and use (9:52). Most are packed fresh (9:58), with some separated that had the properties required for processing into citrus products (10:03). For the citrus products, a lab analyzes the content of their juice and it is then extracted and concentrated by way of evaporation (10:09). The natural flavors are preserved and moisture is vacuumed out (10:19). There are over 1,600 products which can be made with citrus including juice drinks, soft beverages (10:30) as well as pharmaceuticals. Some of these products have been used to sustain astronauts in space (11:15). Citrus to be shipped whole and fresh is stamped and then sorted for size (12:08). Hand packing was still used (12:37) although machines such as the vacuum packing machine were also beginning to be used more widely (13:00). They are loaded into carboard containers which are sealed with waterproof glue (13:19) and are constructed without staples so as to not mar the fruit. These are then loaded into trucks which will deliver them to markets all over the world (13:54). The film concludes with a montage of people across the globe enjoying citrus fruits (14:23). It was produced for Sunkist Growers by Vista Productions Ins. (11:49).
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