Chapter 135 Not in vain

After the visit, the officials and the locals had a general understanding of what they were going to learn, and then they were divided into four groups on the spot: repairing lime kilns, digging ponds, producing vermicelli, and pressing oil.

Su Laoer, Yang Dalang and Wang Sanlang are in charge of the lime kiln group. They will lead the team to Qingshi Mountain for construction tomorrow. They will bring rations, pots and pans, tools, etc. to set up shacks there, so they don't have to run back and forth every day.

Su Laosan, Zheng Silang and Yang Erlang were responsible for digging ponds and building bamboo pipes for each household.

Pei Sanlang and Pei Silang were responsible for cooking vermicelli and pressing oil.

Su Bucheng, Yang Laohan and other village elders are responsible for inspecting and supervising the completion of various tasks.

Su Boyan and several other teenagers took turns teaching the children, and used the remaining time to reclaim the vacant land around the pond.

Yang Chunhua and Zheng Niangzi taught the girls in the morning and spent the rest of the time doing labor.

Su Ying's class is a large class. Not only boys and girls, but even villagers and slang people want to listen. Therefore, Su Ying's class is scheduled on the morning of Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

There was no problem with the overall structure of the treadle thresher, only the details needed to be worked out. However, the several carpenters in the village were busy at the moment, so they had to put it aside for the time being.

On the second day, several groups started to get busy, each working on their own.

"Today I will talk to you about the cultivation of tea oil fruit." Su Ying said to the people who came to the courtyard to listen to the lecture.

"The cultivation of tea oil fruits?" The people below suddenly became agitated and whispered.

Because Su Boyan, Yang Chunhua and others taught boys and girls to read, Su Ying did not need to repeat herself, so Su Ying's classes focused on imparting practical knowledge such as agronomy and production.

Because they had no money to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone, the children all brought a flour sieve filled with fine soil to learn to write.

The progress is slow, and it takes a long time to learn an article. You can imagine how difficult it is to memorize it.

To impart practical knowledge, one only needs to understand and comprehend it, and pass it on orally.

“Yes, everyone has seen the cultivation and oil extraction of camellia oleifera. There are many wild camellia oleifera in the mountains, and the oil extracted is of good quality and has high economic value.

We can consider growing it ourselves, but how do we grow it? Today’s class focuses on these, so that everyone can grow oil tea fruit themselves in the future…”

Su Ying spoke and wrote on the blackboard, imparting her knowledge about tea oil fruit to everyone.

Generally, there are three ways to cultivate fruit tree seedlings: seedlings, grafting and cuttings.

Seedlings germinate and grow from seeds. Their growth is slow and restricted by the season.

Grafting is the process of grafting seedlings and tender seedlings onto strong branches that are several years old to shorten the growth time and optimize the quality of fruit seedlings.

Although tea oil fruit has high economic value, it has a long growth cycle and takes 3-5 years to bloom and bear fruit. If you want to plant it on a large scale, you must use grafting and cutting techniques.

Su Ying talked about how to choose healthy rootstocks and scions, planting density, pruning, etc.

The rootstock should preferably be 1-2 years old, and the scion should be a strong, pest-free, one-year-old branch with sufficient buds. Grafting should be done between June and July.

Grafting tools need to be disinfected, and after grafting, the grafted area should be wrapped with soil.

Planting density should be appropriate and maintain a certain row-to-plant spacing.

In order to better promote the growth and fruiting of tea oil trees, maintain balanced tree vigor, and have many but not dense branches, regular pruning and leaf trimming are required.

Everyone thinks that planting tea oil trees is very simple, just plant the seeds or dig up the tea oil trees and plant them. Unexpectedly, there are so many details involved.

It was the first time I heard this special knowledge that I realized that the crop growth cycle can be artificially intervened.

I have seen mulberry branches being propagated by cuttings before, but I didn’t expect that other fruit and tree seedlings can also be used.

"If this planting method is promoted, tea oil trees will be everywhere in a few years. Wuzhou's tea oil raw materials will be stable and the tea oil will be in constant supply."

Wang Yannian found it interesting. He thought that using grafting to plant tea oil trees on a large scale was simple, crude and effective, with novel ideas and practical feasibility.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were more people like this teaching so that farmers could learn more practical techniques?

"Aying, this method is good, but it is too time-consuming and troublesome." Some people think it is time-consuming and energy-consuming.

It will take at least three years to see results from both seedlings and grafted ones. It would be easier to go up the mountain and pick them.

"It's not troublesome. If you find it troublesome, you can use the cutting method.

In spring or summer, choose a place with good ventilation and clean water on all sides as the planting bed.

Select one- or two-year-old branches as scions, about two inches long, leaving 2-3 buds on each section, and insert them into the seedbed.

Keeping the soil moist and providing adequate shade will also help the fruit seedlings survive very well." Su Ying then remembered that she had forgotten to mention the cutting method.

"Yeah, this is a good idea!" Everyone agreed.

That grafting method is really cumbersome, delicate and slow.

The cutting method is simple and easy. Select the scion, find a cool and wet place to plant it, let it grow freely, and after a period of time, transplant the surviving ones into the field.

"Aying, oil tea fruit can be planted, but what about kudzu root, fern root, and konjac?" Some people think of these crops.

If we go to the mountains to look for it every day, the fruits will surely become less and less over time. If we can plant them specifically, then we don’t have to search all over the mountains, right?

"Of course you can. Fern roots don't produce a lot of flour, so planting them isn't cost-effective. But you can consider planting kudzu and konjac. And if you cultivate them well, the yield can be very high."

Su Ying didn't expect that the villagers could think of these things, which shows that they are really learning and thinking hard.

"Then tell us how to grow kudzu root and konjac!" The villagers were very interested and wanted to learn more.

"Okay! Let's talk about the cultivation of Pueraria lobata first..." Su Ying took a sip of water and continued.

Pueraria lobata has strong adaptability, prefers warm and humid environment, is cold-resistant and drought-resistant, and has low requirements for soil. It should be planted in sunny, deep, loose and fertile red-yellow loam or sandy loam, and it is best to rotate crops.

It is usually planted in late April. First, dig a small hole half a foot deep and plant the seedlings in the hole at an angle of 30 degrees to the ground.

It can be harvested in two years, from the beginning of winter to before Qingming Festival.

During this period, the kudzu leaves can be fed to pigs, the flowers can be dried and sold as medicine, and the kudzu bark can be used to weave cloth. In short, the entire plant can be fully utilized.

"Well, the girl has a thorough understanding of Ge!" Wang Yannian nodded after hearing this.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, kudzu was the main source of cloth, and the imperial court had special kudzu officials in charge of kudzu planting and the collection of kudzu cloth.

Later, with the development of society, the widespread popularity of mulberry planting, silkworm breeding and hemp gradually replaced kudzu.

If kudzu powder and vermicelli had appeared at that time, perhaps kudzu would not have been gradually faded out.

"Aying, where is the konjac?" The villagers smacked their lips and asked about the konjac.

"Konjac likes warmth but fears high temperatures, likes shade but fears strong light, likes moisture but fears waterlogging, likes sandy soil but fears yellow mud..."

Choose loose and fertile loam that is cool and shady, does not accumulate water, has easy drainage and irrigation, and has a light texture.

At the same time, we should pay attention to crop rotation, and the same piece of land should not be planted continuously for more than three years.

Both kudzu and konjac are mentioned in rotation. There is no better way here, so Su Ying can only remind everyone to use beans for rotation.

Because beans are relatively unpicky about soil, they are usually planted in the corners of fields and grow well.

Then, rotating beans on large areas of kudzu and konjac will not only grow well, but the beans can also be used to extract oil and make soy products, and mung beans have many more uses.

In short, under the current circumstances, rotation of beans with kudzu and konjac is of great economic and practical value.

Not only the Li people but also officials attended the lecture. They were shocked by the crop rotation technology. What kind of planting method is there?

This class was really worth it!