Chapter 478 About Cotton
Almost every household in Dahe Village grows cotton. When Cheng Wanwan's family started growing it on a large scale, the village head followed suit, and then everyone followed suit. Some planted an acre, while others planted three or four fen. Because they planted so little, weeding, fertilizing, and catching insects wasn't too tiring. They could finish it in half an hour after work.
Without much effort, they harvested large clumps of cotton, and the villagers were all beaming with joy.
This stuff feels soft and comfortable to the touch, making it more suitable for winter clothes than willow catkins and reeds. It can also be stuffed into quilts for warmth. In previous years, villagers would help each other to collect willow catkins and reeds. But with cotton, this year we don't have to go through all that trouble anymore.
"Fortunately, my family planted an acre of land. I heard from Da Shan's mother that an acre of land can yield 400 catties of cotton."
“My family planted half an acre, which can yield 200 catties. When the harvest comes, each member of the family can make a quilt and each person can have a winter coat made.”
"However, we'll have to ask Aunt Dashan how to make quilts and clothes from this stuff. Also, we don't know how to handle the matter of preserving offspring."
"Yes, yes, we need to save the seeds. We'll have to plant them again next year. Maybe we can sell them for money."
"..."
Villagers came to Cheng Wanwan's house to learn from her experience.
Her family used to live in a small courtyard, and the gate was rarely closed. Villagers could just come in and call out.
But now, she lives in a large house. Although the door is not closed, there are two large stone lions at the entrance. Standing at the entrance, you can't see the bottom of the house at a glance, and the villagers don't dare to step inside.
"Aunties and ladies, are you here to see Madam An?" Granny Qi came out of the courtyard and said with a smile, "Madam An is reading in the flower hall. You can just go there directly."
Generally, anyone who comes to the village, such as aunties, grandpas, grandmas, or grandmas, can be led in without needing to be notified. This is a conclusion that Granny Qi has drawn from her observations.
However, if the visitor is Lord Wu, or some lady or young lady who comes to the village to admire the lotus flowers, then one must first consult with the matriarch.
Granny Qi led the way, followed by twenty or thirty women. It wasn't their first time here, but each time they came in, they dared not make a sound or whisper to each other, and followed quietly into the flower hall.
The flower hall here is very large, with tables and chairs, and it can easily seat twenty or thirty people.
Ninglan, who was serving nearby, was very perceptive and brought out tea, as well as seasonal melons and plums, filling the whole table.
Seeing that everyone was quite reserved, Cheng Wanwan closed her book and said with a smile, "Why are you being so polite here? There are too many melons in the field, we can't eat them all. Please help us eat more and don't waste them."
Silly Root's mother was the first to start eating: "Can I take some of these melon seeds back with me? I'll plant some next year too."
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Of course. Speaking of saving seeds, I'd like to tell you about cotton seeds. There's a hard cottonseed inside the cotton plant. That's the seed. After drying it, store it properly, making sure it's waterproof and moisture-proof. If you plant it next year, it will germinate."
The village women pressed on, asking, "How do you know if it's dried properly?"
"Take a bite with your teeth; if it makes a crisp cracking sound, it's completely dry." Cheng Wanwan had just been reading a book about cotton, and she spoke with great expertise.
Modern cotton seeds are all purchased, and generally, purchased cotton seeds cannot be kept for personal use. The cotton seedlings she has this time have been carefully selected and can be saved for seed. They will be planted next March or April, and the germination rate can reach 60%.
"There's one more thing. When you're picking cotton, if you go before sunrise and there's dew, you can just pull down the whole boll that's already opened and take it home to peel off the fibers. But if the sun's already out, then just pull the cotton fibers off right there in the field, because the leaves are dried out and crumble easily when touched, sticking to the fibers and making them very difficult to remove..."
"After the cotton is harvested, remember to expose it to the sun, expose it fully to the sun, and store it in a waterproof and moisture-proof place after it is completely dry... After I'm done with this, I'll teach everyone how to make clothes and quilts from cotton..."
The peasant women carefully wrote down all the things that needed attention, and then told the other peasant women who hadn't come.
Since each household doesn't grow a lot of cotton, it doesn't take much effort to spend fifteen minutes each day bringing back the cotton bolls and having the children peel the cotton.
The busiest place was Cheng Wanwan's family. The total cotton fields were 160 mu. Ten farmhands had just finished harvesting and pulling all the cotton in order. The first plot of land to sprout cotton again was covered in snow-white cotton.
The cotton bolls that were brought back were all piled up in the first courtyard of the house, taking up a third of the area. A large group of elderly women around sixty years old came over, each with a low stool, and gathered around to peel the cotton. The cotton they peeled was paid by weight. These elderly women had someone to chat with and could earn money. Most importantly, working at Da Shan Niang's house meant unlimited tea and snacks, which was really too comfortable.
After the first batch of cotton was thoroughly dried, Cheng Wanwan packed some and took it to the Cao family's workshop.
The workshop is now on the right track. There are more than 20 female workers raising silkworms, more than 10 female workers weaving cloth, and more than 20 embroiderers. The entire workshop has a total of more than 60 or 70 workers, and the sound of the looms has never stopped.
"What brings you here, Madam? It's hot outside, please come in and sit down." Kong Xiuniang stood up and welcomed Cheng Wanwan in.
Cheng Wanwan saw Cao Yingying's design draft on the table. Kong Xiuniang was breaking down the process, separating each part and then assigning it to different people to do.
“Anren’s method is still the best. Twenty embroiderers, each responsible for a different part, and then sewing them together, has increased efficiency by at least three times.” Kong the embroiderer said with a smile, “Now we don’t have to worry about making clothes, but we don’t have enough design drafts. It’s not enough for Miss to do it alone. I plan to look for some young tailors. I think they should be able to draw some new clothes.”
Cheng Wanwan nodded. The most crucial element of a ready-made clothing store is its designer; design is the soul of the business.
She emptied the cotton from her basket: "Kong Xiuniang, can your workshop's looms weave cotton into cloth?"
Although she knew that cotton could be used to make clothes, she really didn't know how to turn cotton into cloth. The books all talked about modern technology, and she had no idea how it was done in ancient times. She also didn't know much about looms.
Kong Xiuniang carefully pulled at the cotton wadding, observed it for a while, and then said, "The looms here are specially designed for weaving silk. Silk is very long, while cotton wadding is too short. We need to spin the yarn first, and then try it on a loom designed for weaving linen. There shouldn't be any major problems..."
Being a professional, Kong Xiuniang pondered for a moment and said, "This cotton is soft and highly absorbent, so it should be easy to dye. It would be excellent for making children's undergarments..."
Cheng Wanwan nodded. Silk clothes are indeed comfortable to wear, but they also have their unavoidable drawbacks. Cotton clothes make up for this deficiency to a great extent. Not only are they soft, but they are also very absorbent, making them very suitable for children and the elderly. In addition, cotton has strong dyeing properties and can be dyed into more than a dozen shades of red between light red and water red. This is more difficult to achieve with silk and requires a lot of manpower and resources...
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