Chapter 521 Cotton Experimental Field
After resting and having a meal, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were even more amazed by Dahe Village and understood even more why the people of Sui'an are the people of Sui'an.
If it weren't for the fact that it was already dark after the meal, these adults would have immediately wanted to start studying cotton.
Cheng Wanwan settled them in the back room of the mansion. The next day, as soon as it was light, the adults got up. Granny Qi and Yan Hong served the adults breakfast, while Zhao Dashan was pulled to sit down at the table by Master Zou.
Zhao Dashan stays at home most of the year. When Cheng Wanwan is busy, he also helps with receiving business people. It can be said that he has been trained in interpersonal skills.
However, businessmen and officials are different after all. Being surrounded by six or seven officials of high rank made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Lord Zou smiled warmly and said, "Young Master Zhao, I heard that you are in charge of breeding, cultivating and planting the cotton in Dahe Village. Do you have any records of that?"
“Yes, yes,” Zhao Dashan said repeatedly. “When we started planting cotton last spring, my mother instructed me that all the details must be recorded. I’ll go get them now.”
Although he could read and write, he never wrote anything down on paper. In his view, once he had planted any crop, all the details of the process were imprinted in his mind, and he didn't need to write them down and review them later. But his mother said that there were so many people in Dahe Village, and it was impossible for him to explain to each person when they planted the crop and record it in a book so that everyone could read it. That would be much easier.
As a result, he developed the habit of recording agricultural activities, such as planting chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, and he also made notes on them.
He went back to his room, retrieved the booklet, and handed it to Lord Zou.
As soon as the booklet was opened, Lord Zou's expression became quite interesting. The handwriting... was simply amazing.
However, it is already quite good for a farmer to be able to read and write; how can we expect him to write beautiful characters as well?
Lord Zou examined the booklet carefully. The cotton planting process was very detailed, including how many times to water the plants per day, the spacing between seedlings, how to top them, and so on. At the end of the booklet, there were also some summaries, such as which fields yielded higher cotton yields and how to control cotton pests.
“Young Master Zhao, this booklet of yours has saved us so much trouble.” Lord Zou immediately stood up. “We need a plot of land now. Before the planting season, we must quickly study the characteristics of cotton.”
Zhao Dashan asked, "Are there any requirements for the open space?"
"Any piece of land will do." Lord Zou directed the men behind him to move the boxes. "Move all the tools to the open space. The experimental field must be completed today. Not a single day can be wasted."
The year's plan starts in spring, and spring rain is as precious as oil. If you miss this spring, you'll have to wait until next spring.
Farming is the most important thing that cannot be delayed.
Zhao Dashan didn't understand what an experimental field was, but he still found a good field as instructed and called all the hired farmhands to help.
When Cheng Wanwan arrived, she saw dozens of people making a ruckus on a field in the backyard.
She was wondering yesterday why Lord Zou and his party of six were traveling in so many carriages. Now she realized that several of the carriages were filled with soil of various colors and textures, which had been separated and poured into small experimental fields. Each field had a sign indicating that it contained soil from the capital, the Northeast, the Northwest, the Southwest, and other parts of the country.
Some people were responsible for placing the soil, some for adjusting the humidity, and others seemed to be building thatched sheds in certain areas...
Cheng Wanwan was extremely surprised. She really didn't expect that ancient people would also conduct field experiments. It looked quite professional. If Zhao Dashan learned from this, he would probably be unmatched in farming in the future.
For the next two weeks, Zhao Dashan and the officials from the Ministry of Revenue spent all their time in the experimental fields, going there before dawn and returning after dark. Their hard work paid off, and the cotton seedlings sprouted in just two weeks.
It's only the end of January, a time when the weather is still chilly. Normally, cotton wouldn't be planted at this time because the temperature is too low for it to germinate. However, the people in the Ministry of Revenue have a solution. They burn firewood continuously around the experimental field for twelve hours a day to raise the temperature, and the cotton naturally sprouts and grows.
"People of Sui'an, it really is so!" Lord Zou, with a scruffy beard and an excited face, reported to Cheng Wanwan, "The soil in all directions of the Dayu Dynasty can indeed grow cotton, but the northwest region has plenty of sunshine and the central region has moderate temperature and humidity. These two regions are the most suitable and can be promoted on a large scale."
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "With plenty of sunshine, the cotton will be of better quality, and with moderate temperature and humidity, the yield will be more stable."
"I inquired with Young Master Zhao, and the two biggest problems in cotton cultivation are pests and irrigation," Lord Zou said slowly. "Let's leave the pests aside for now and talk about irrigation. Wheat is also a dryland crop, but it doesn't require much water. Cotton is different; it basically needs to be irrigated every few days. And since dryland crops are far from rivers, this greatly increases the workload for farmers..."
Cheng Wanwan had already thought about this problem.
The people of Dahe Village basically used buckets to irrigate their fields, which was the most primitive method. If the field area was larger, some farmers would use a waterwheel to draw water, which was slightly more convenient, but still time-consuming and laborious. In the more distant landlord estates, another tool called a human-powered waterwheel was used, which was suitable for irrigating large areas of farmland. One person could irrigate about four or five acres a day, which was considered very impressive in that era.
But no matter how powerful it is, it still relies on human resources to operate.
She seemed to have seen it in a book; there was an ancient irrigation device called a waterwheel, but she had never heard of it mentioned in the Great Yu Dynasty, so it must not have been invented yet.
It is said that the waterwheel can irrigate at least 200 acres of land. If it is built on a larger scale, the irrigated area can reach several thousand acres. If it is successfully built, the entire Dahe Village will benefit and bring good fortune to thousands of households.
Previously, she dared not make tools that were too advanced, but now that there are officials from the Ministry of Revenue, this problem has been easily solved.
She smiled and said, "Some wealthy villages near Dahe Village use hand-operated watering carts. If it weren't so expensive, Dahe Village would also adopt that method."
Lord Zou shook his head: "If even the wealthy Dahe Village finds the manual cart expensive, then ordinary people can't afford it at all... Oh well, since ancient times, farmers have been able to endure hardship. Only by enduring the bitterest of hardships can they... avoid getting cold in the winter."
"The reason why manual waterwheels are expensive is that even after spending so much money, they can only irrigate four or five acres of land a day. It's unnecessary for poor people, and not enough for some big landowners," Cheng Wanwan said thoughtfully. "I think we can modify the manual waterwheel..."
Lord Li, who was in charge of the irrigation canals, immediately became interested: "Sui'an resident, please tell me more."
Cheng Wanwan coughed and said, "I need to think about it for a while, and then I will discuss it with you all in detail."
She needs to go back and look through the books, to see the structural diagrams of the waterwheel. She will give pointers on the key points, but the details will have to be handled by the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.
In addition, she wanted to take this opportunity to make some other agricultural tools, such as a semi-automatic threshing machine. Her family was going to plant rice on a large scale this year, and they couldn't do without it...
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