Chapter 224 Pellet Feed

By the Huangsha River, a thin mist covered the Song family's ten acres of land, most of which was planted with rice. Now was the time when the rice was in bloom and the fields were lush green.

There are many vegetables planted in the corners. Song Zhenping started sowing the seeds and taking care of them every day when he was preparing to take over Tianxianglou.

It’s been less than two months, and now not only are the pakchoy growing well, but the beans, peppers, and eggplants are also blooming under the scorching sun, ready to harvest a bountiful harvest of autumn goods.

Peanut and soybean pods are almost ripe and can be harvested next month.

It was rare for Song Liyun to come to the field, and Song Zhenping happily pointed out to her every crop he planted.

He also whispered that he learned these planting techniques from the "Book of Heaven", and they were indeed better than those of other people. He also wanted to plant some winter wheat this year so that he could have an extra harvest next year.

Song Zhenping has been working in the fields for the past ten years. He can't do anything else, so only by returning to the land can he have endless things to say.

Xiao An was now also smart. He caught a grasshopper and showed it to Song Liyun. The three of them laughed while working.

The rapeseed leaves have withered, while the bean pods are golden and plump, as if they will burst if touched.

Song Zhenping had no experience in growing rapeseed for the first time, and he was worried that the seeds were not mature enough, so it was actually a little late to harvest now.

They could only take advantage of the moist morning fog to quickly cut the rapeseed pods. Everyone worked very carefully, fearing that the plump pods would explode in their hands the next second.

These rapeseeds are all to be kept as seeds, and each one is very precious.

By the time the sun rose above the mountain, the eighty rapeseed heads had been harvested and spread out on a piece of cloth at the edge of the field to dry out the last bit of moisture, ready for threshing.

Taking advantage of this time, Xiao An and Song Zhenping were also busy. They pulled out rapeseed stalks, pulled out weeds from the ground, and cut grass around the field for the rabbits and chrysanthemum horses to eat.

Worried that the rabbits and horses will have no grass to eat in winter, Song Zhenping and Xiao An now cut grass, dry it and store it whenever they have free time.

Song Liyun was happy when she saw the two hardworking brothers. Now the family had no shortage of food or money, and she could afford to support the two brothers even if they were idle every day.

But no one had the idea of ​​eating and drinking for free, especially not asking Song Liyun for money.

Song Zhenping either works in the fields or helps out in the cardboard box factory, where he is paid.

Xiao An was the same, but the cardboard factory was full of hay and ponds, so he couldn't do heavy work, so he went home to make money by pasting cardboard boxes.

Song Liyun feels that this behavior is worthy of encouragement and that contributing to the family is everyone's obligation.

I just think that it’s a waste of time for them to mow the lawn like this every day.

Moreover, it is neither safe nor aesthetically pleasing to store hay in a pile outside. It should be made into pellet feed and stored.

Hay is also needed for feed.

Thinking of this, Song Liyun walked over to the two brothers, rolled up her sleeves and started to help. She planned to do it quickly while she had this idea.

After the sun rose and the rapeseed pods were dried, the three siblings beat out the black-brown rapeseed grains and packed them in bags before returning to Baolinju.

Song Zhenping was busy looking for a place to dry the rapeseed again, while Song Liyun went to the carton factory to find Han Ming.

Ever since Song Liyun went to Qili County every day, accompanied by people from the garrison, Han Ming stayed at home.

He was previously a slave trained by his master as a steward, but became a runaway slave due to unexpected circumstances.

After arriving at the Song family, I had to follow Song Liyun, and now I finally stopped.

Now that the Song family has an industry, there is a place where his talents can be put to use, so he resumes his management studies.

The carton factory was previously managed by the shopkeeper Mu, and the foreman was the meticulous carpenter Mu.

Now the carton factory and the acorn workshop are all managed by Han Ming, who is much more professional in every aspect than Manager Mu.

Shopkeeper Mu also had no objection.

Because the house needs to be renovated after the autumn harvest, wood, bricks, stones and craftsmen need to be arranged in advance.

The houses of several families had to be moved at the same time, so Manager Mu took charge of all the affairs.

As soon as Song Liyun arrived at the riverside carton factory, she saw Han Ming talking to Carpenter Mu. When he saw her, he hurried over and said, "It's a good thing that the young lady didn't go out today. Come over and tell us what to do about this matter."

"What's up?"

Song Liyun walked over and looked around.

The large pool in the carton factory is still soaked with yellow-brown straw. These are used to make thick cardboard boards, which need to be fermented for a period of time before being pounded into pulp.

In the open space not far away, there were piles of wheat straw like mountains, and the waterwheel with water wheel was rotating day and night to hammer the wood pulp.

Five workers were copying paper in the pulp trough, and everyone was busy in an orderly manner.

In the spacious warehouse next to it, cardboard was piled up to dry.

The cardboard factory is not far from Baolinju, but it took more than a month for Song Liyun to come after purchasing the wheat straw.

When Carpenter Mu saw Song Liyun coming over, he still smiled innocently: "Miss Song."

He does less carpentry work now and usually supervises the pulp production with the same attitude as he would a carver.

At this time, he was holding a green bare stick in his hand, with an embarrassed look on his face: "Miss Song, look, this is what Old Han wants to use for soaking pulp, and he bought so many."

It turned out that the two people were arguing about whether these green straws could be used to make paper.

According to Lao Mu, these stems that have not yet fully grown cannot produce pulp and will ruin the entire pool of materials.

Han Ming said, "Miss, since they have given it to me, I can't refuse it.

I'll take this cart if it only sells for fifty coins. If it's really not worth it, just deduct it from my wages!"

His monthly salary is now more than one or two taels of silver, so he can easily pay the compensation.

Song Liyun took the straw and looked at it, and couldn't help laughing: "Uncle Mu, Uncle Han, please stop arguing. Can you tell me where this thing came from first?"

Han Mingdao said, "This is sorghum that hasn't grown well on the mountain. The weather was dry this year, with little rain, so the corn and sorghum on the slopes haven't grown well. They take up space, so farmers cut them to feed their livestock. Someone wanted to sell some stalks and brought them over to me to ask if I wanted them. I saw they were pretty hard, so I thought I'd try making paper."

Not every family has large livestock, so these sorghum stalks, which are not much thicker than a thumb, can only be used as firewood.

Song Liyun smiled: What you need will come to you.

This batch of sorghum did not grow well, the seedlings were weak, the ears were only finger-long, and the grains were shriveled, so the farmers simply cut them off and left the land idle.

But the grass powder in this kind of silage feed should be the best.

"Uncle Han, let's keep these stalks. Don't make paper from them. Use them as feed!"

"What is feed?"

"What is feed?"

Lao Mu and Han Ming asked in unison.

Sorghum stalks and corn stalks are high in crude fiber and have a bad taste. Generally, they can only be eaten by cows with four stomachs and the ability to ruminate.

Horses need fine grass. They can eat things like sorghum leaves and corn leaves, but they absolutely cannot eat the stems.

But if it is ground into powder and then added with other ingredients such as corn meal, grass meal, soybean meal, wheat bran, bone meal, etc., it can be made into feed.

Soon, Song Liyun handed the feed formula to Han Ming, and asked Carpenter Mu to improve the water wheel and add a millstone.

In addition, two wooden boards with grooves like washboards are carved, so that the grass powder can be ground into feed pellets.

(End of this chapter)