"Chen Hong, Yu Hai, you're here pretty early! You've done so much work!" My cousin and his wife, along with Uncle Erhu's family, entered the field. Uncle Erhu was even carrying a 2-meter-high folding ladder.
"We arrived an hour early, so we cleared the grass under the tree first, so that it would be easier to work and we could also use the grass to line the bottom of the baskets."
Uncle and Xiaofeng found a spacious, flat spot and set up the scale. "Chen Hong, are you planning to weigh and pack the fruit as you pick it?"
“I was thinking that since there are many of us, you men can pick the pears, and we women can take the baskets, put them directly into the crates, and weigh them to avoid them falling to the ground. Putting them into the crates in the afternoon would be an extra step that would damage the pears. Anyway, there are only about 30 trees today, so we can definitely finish early. Uncle, do you think this is okay?”
"Okay, let's do it this way. If the pears are bruised, we can't sell them, and we can't eat them either, because they'll rot easily."
Uncle started directing everyone to work: "Erhu, you and I pick a few of the shorter trees over here. Yu Hai and Xiao Feng, you two pick the taller trees. If you can't, we'll set up a ladder. You can't deny you're getting old. Your Uncle Erhu and I won't climb any higher."
"Grandpa, you're not old at all. With me and Brother Yu Hai here, there's no need for you and my dad to climb the ladder. Please, Brother Hai, get to work." Xiao Feng said with a grin to his uncle, the village chief, while picking pears with a basket.
"Uncle, Aunt, Sister-in-law, there's some cool boiled water here. Come and drink if you're thirsty. If you want to eat pears, you can eat whichever one you like. Pick the best-looking ones."
"Okay, we won't stand on ceremony. Your pears are really delicious, sweet and crisp, juicy and without any bitterness, and the cores are especially small." Xiaofeng picked a big pear, wiped it on his pants, and started eating it with a crunch.
“Sister-in-law, several families in our village are waiting for your pears. They’ve been eating them every year and are addicted to them. Each family eats dozens of kilograms of your pears. Now everyone in the village regrets not buying pear seedlings with you back then. You don’t know, some people in the village went to Laiyang to buy seedlings, but they wouldn’t sell them, saying they were some kind of protected regional specialty. If you wanted to buy them, you could only get a new hybrid grafted variety, and when they tasted the pears, they weren’t even as good as our local sand pears.”
"Yes, although agricultural technology has developed and various cultivation techniques are changing rapidly, some old varieties that have been optimized and cultivated for thousands of years are still irreplaceable. For example, Feicheng peaches from Shandong, Yantai Fuji apples, Laiyang pears, Zhanhua winter jujubes, Changle watermelons, and Jimo Jinping persimmons. These old-brand fruits are unforgettable once you taste them. They all have their own unique flavor."
"Nowadays, grafted fruits are dazzling and colorful, with so many varieties that even fruit vendors can't tell them apart. But with these classic fruits, once you've tasted them, you can name them after just one bite. That's the irreplaceable charm of classic fruits."
“Uniqueness and rarity are valuable. The local government must protect it and not allow large-scale planting. If the taste is different, it will ruin the brand.”
“That’s right, sister-in-law, you see things very clearly,” Xiaofeng said. “Sister-in-law, I see that many small saplings have sprouted from the base of your pear tree. If we transplant them, will they survive? If they do, sell them all to my family. We also want to plant Laiyang pears in our field.”
“I transplanted it last year, but it didn’t survive, and the mother tree was also injured. This year, it bore far less fruit. In the spring, it looked sickly and weak. If it hadn’t been treated in time, it might have died this year. Next year, I’ll try to find a strong tree. If it can be transplanted and survives, I will definitely leave it to you.”
"Thank you, sister-in-law. We've got this agreed. If the transplant is successful, you must save it for me."
"Of course, given the relationship between our two families, as long as it can be transplanted, I'll definitely give it to you first. But how many trees do you want? Don't you have fruit trees planted in your field? If you only plant three or five trees, it's enough for your own consumption, not enough to sell."
While picking fruit, Xiaofeng talked to Chen Hong, "Sister-in-law, look at how unplanned our family's life is. We have the same ten acres of land as yours, but my dad's crops are a mixed bag. There are more than a dozen apricot trees, more than 20 sand pear trees, seven or eight apple trees, and even five or six plum trees planted in the ground. Not only do they not sell for a good price, but they are also difficult to manage."
“Managing just one variety is incredibly difficult. There’s work to be done every day, and the flowering and fruiting periods are all different. If you neglect management, the fruit quality will suffer, and the yield won’t be high either. We’re busy every day, but we can’t make any money. My dad also planted some corn, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, but the land wasn’t well-planned; the tall and short plants are all over the place.”
“If you can cultivate enough saplings, I plan to keep only one or two apricot and plum trees, enough for my own consumption, and cut down the rest. I will also plan like yours and plant the trees along the edge of the ground so that the trees can grow well and the crops in the field can also grow well.”
Uncle overheard what Chen Hong and Xiao Feng were saying and said to Chen Hong, "Chen Hong, your saplings have survived transplanting. Besides the ones for Xiao Feng, let's give the second one to my family. My family also wants to plant your pear trees. The price is good, they are easy to manage and don't require much manpower."
“Okay, Uncle, since you all want them, I plan to use a new method to transplant these saplings next year. I want to use layering to let the saplings grow roots next to the mother tree first. When the roots of the saplings have grown long enough to be transplanted and survive, then we will separate them from the mother tree.”
"If we don't cut it directly from the root of the mother tree, we shouldn't damage it, right? I remember when I was a child, we had a pomegranate tree at home, and my grandfather used this layering method to separate the saplings every year. Do you think this kind of division is suitable for our climate?"
"Why not? Back when we didn't know about grafting, didn't we divide grapevines and pomegranate trees like this? This method ensures stable varietal characteristics, making the plants exactly the same as the mother tree. Grafting won't work; who knows what the fruit will taste like!"
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