"Aren't these potatoes?" Andrew looked at them for a moment and recognized the "lumps of earth" covered in mud in front of him.
Although the royal palace had exquisite food, when the "lumps of earth" were made into dishes that could be served on the table, they were no longer what they are today.
But An Lu had played with Su Lie and others since he was a child, and they had gone hunting and picnicking in the suburbs more than once or twice. Not to mention seeing them, he had even baked "mud lumps" himself several times. Compared with the exquisite sweet potato puree and sweet potato meat pie cooked in the palace kitchen, he felt that the sweet potatoes baked directly in the fire without any seasoning were more original and delicious.
"Pick a few out." An Lu instructed the followers behind him, and then smiled at Wei Yunlan and said, "Miss Wei, Su Lie praised my skill in roasting sweet potatoes after eating them. I will roast a few for you to try later."
Upon seeing this, the steward immediately ordered the servants beside him to help dig together, "There is no need for Your Highness to do it yourself. I will order someone to do it right away..."
An Lu glanced over and the steward reacted immediately, changing his words: "I will ask someone to help you build the fire."
Look at him, hanging around in these fields all day, he's become stupid.
How could the prince be short of people to help him roast the potatoes? He clearly wanted to take this opportunity to show off in front of the black-haired and black-eyed girl from the Rakshasa country!
The fire was quickly built.
Andrew excitedly picked up a bag of freshly dug potatoes and squatted beside the fire.
The ground had already been dug up, so the manager asked the person who was in charge of the farm to dig out all the remaining potatoes.
Looking at the "lumps of earth" that kept filling up the baskets, Wei Yunlan's eyes lit up and he asked the steward, "You just said that this land has been harvested once, and now these are just a small part of what's left?"
"Yes, they were just harvested a few days ago." The manager of Baicao Garden nodded, thought for a moment, and pointed to the other end of the field and said, "Look, that's bare over there, even the seedlings have been dug up, that's what was just harvested a few days ago. This whole piece of land was planted with potatoes, and what's left today is probably only about 20% to 30% of the whole field."
Because the prince was here, the people in Baicao Garden worked extra hard.
The old farmers who were taking care of several fields nearby also came here to help, and soon all the potatoes in the fields were dug out.
In addition to the dozens of baskets that were filled to the brim, there were two additional piles built next to the fields.
Wei Yunlan roughly estimated that the sweet potatoes dug today alone weighed more than ten stones.
This piece of farmland where potatoes are planted is less than two acres in size.
The potatoes in front of me are only 20% to 30% of the output of the entire farmland...
This means that the potato yield of this farmland can reach an astonishing 20 to 30 stones!
You know, even in the fertile land of the southern states, the yield of rice per mu will never exceed ten dan, usually only around four or five dan. In the poorer areas of the north, the yield is much lower.
Take Wei Yunlan's own farm for example. The lands of her several dowry farms are all fertile fields, and there are enough people to take good care of them. The annual grain output is less than five stone per mu.
The yield of the potatoes in front of me is several times lower...
What the people of Dayong lack most is food.
This is especially true when disasters are frequent in various places and wars are ongoing in the west and north.
If sweet potatoes could be brought back to Dayong and planted widely, the people would no longer have to worry about food.
As long as there is enough food, what natural disasters or man-made disasters can’t we survive?
In Wei Yunlan's eyes, those piles of dirty "lumps of earth" were now valuable "lumps of gold".
The surprise in Wei Yunlan's eyes was too obvious. The steward thought about what he had just said and thought to himself that the black-haired woman who came with Prince Anlu was most likely a noble from the Rakshasa Kingdom.
If you don't know anything about farming, you would be shocked by this small yield per mu.
Intent on showing off the strength of Qimeng in front of the nobles of Luosha, the steward said solemnly: "The land here in Baicao Garden is not the most suitable for growing potatoes. The potato yield per mu here is not very high. The sandy loam in many places in Qimeng can produce nearly twice as much potato as here!"
Double it!
Wei Yunlan was almost unable to calculate how much the yield per acre should be.
But no matter how much more it costs, this trip is worth it!
This "sweet potato" alone was worth the several months she spent on this trip to the northwest.
However, how to raise seedlings and how to plant them are also problems.
Wei Yunlan knew a lot more about worldly things in this life than in his previous life, but he had never tried farming by himself.
For these potatoes, she wouldn't mind trying her hand!
Hearing the noblewoman from Luosha asking about the matters concerning potato planting, the steward wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Please wait a moment. I will go and call a servant who is in charge of taking care of the potatoes..."
God knows that he could only remember the yield of each piece of land, but he had never worked in the fields himself. He almost showed his weakness in front of the prince and the nobles of the Rakshasa Kingdom!
But I don't know why this noble lady from Luosha Country is so interested in farming...
The farmers who can work in Baicao Garden are all good at farming. Sweet potatoes are a crop that does not have any harsh growing conditions. In just a moment, the old farmer who was called by the manager told Wei Yunlan the complete process of sweet potatoes from planting to growth and harvesting.
Wei Yunlan asked several more times for the parts he didn't understand. After taking careful notes, he asked the old farmer about the place with the highest per-acre yield of sweet potatoes in the country of Qimeng.
The old farmer who was called to answer the question immediately introduced with a smile: "If we talk about the origin of sweet potatoes, it has to be our Kagge. The soil there is all sandy loam, which is most suitable for the growth of sweet potatoes."
This old farmer is from Kage. The sweet potato fields he manages in his hometown can produce up to 30 dan per mu.
The output is twice as much as that of the land in Baicao Garden.
Talking about his hometown, the old farmer talked incessantly. The steward frowned as he listened, fearing that he would annoy the distinguished guest. However, Wei Yunlan, whom he regarded as a distinguished guest, listened with great interest.
She had already thought about her next itinerary. After leaving the capital of the Qimeng Kingdom, she would head southwest to the place where the old farmer mentioned sweet potatoes were produced.
In addition to stockpiling enough grain seeds, she also needs to stockpile a batch of sandy loam suitable for growing potatoes into the space!
This will ensure that the first batch of potato seeds brought back to Dayong can be planted successfully no matter what.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Wei Yunlan's lips.
Not far away, An Lu raised his arm, waved his hand and shouted loudly: "Miss Wei, the potatoes are ready, come and have a taste!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
