Lady of the Lord From the East - Chapter 143

The recipe for the mushroom (also called Agaricus bisporus) culture material Wei Wei found required corn stalks, dried chicken manure, cottonseed cake, urea, phosphate fertilizer and lime.

Coincidentally, she has all these things. The corn stalks can be collected in the field, and the dry chicken manure can be collected from the residents. Now, because the breeding tax has been reduced in disguise, and at the same time, a large amount of manure is required for farming. Therefore, every household raises more livestock and poultry than before, and collecting enough dry chicken manure is just a matter of time-consuming.

The cottonseed cake is the residue left after cottonseed oil is pressed. Of course, no one will use cottonseed oil at this time, but it is also very easy to buy cottonseed. Although Sardinson did not grow cotton, it does not mean that Puluo In fact, some countries and regions along the Mediterranean coast will plant more or less. After all, cotton cloth made of cotton is one of the main fabrics at this time. Cotton planting is very marketable, but cotton likes fertilizer and consumes much. In terms of soil fertility, when fertilization was not known before, the output of cotton was very small, and a piece of land was planted with cotton for a year, and it needed to be fallow for a longer time, so the price of cotton cloth remained high.

However, after the use of fire dung and manure began to spread, the situation became much better. There were obviously more cotton cloths on the market than before, and the price was also reduced. It was obvious that the cotton of the raw material had a bumper harvest, and the cotton harvest season It happened to be July, and as long as you contact the merchant who sells cotton, you can buy as many seeds as you want.

Originally, the most difficult to obtain should be urea and phosphate fertilizers. After all, these two kinds of fertilizers should not be available in this period, but the alchemists sponsored by Wei Wei surprised her last year, combining urea and phosphate fertilizers and some Other fertilizers have been produced. Although large-scale production is still not possible at present, only a small amount can be supplied to some fields in the manor. However, the accumulated production volume during this period of time is enough to make bisporus mushrooms.

As for lime, as a commonly used building material, Satinson naturally stored a very large amount. Just talk to the construction team and you can pull it back directly.

In addition to the nutrient formula of Agaricus bisporus, Wei Wei also found the nutrient formula for growing oyster mushrooms. Compared with Agaricus bisporus, which needs to increase chemical fertilizers to ensure nutrition, the oyster mushroom culturing material is much more casual. Corn cob, corn stalk, sawdust, cottonseed husk Straw, any combination of lime and female wheat bran with appropriate water can be used to make oyster mushroom culture material.

Originally, if it was the first attempt, it would be better to grow oyster mushrooms. The raw materials are everywhere and they are worthless. Even if they fail, they will not feel distressed. But since she also has the culture materials of Agaricus bisporus on hand, it is naturally two. Come together.

As for which formula should be chosen for so many culturing materials, Wei Wei said that only children can choose, adults naturally want all of them, and try everything they can find.

She copied out the two culture material recipes and gave them to George to prepare.

George, who got the list, was very confused about what the Countess wanted these things to do, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he prepared everything as quickly as possible and sent the serfs to the castle.

Since most of the items do not need to be purchased, other than the time spent buying cotton seeds and waiting for the merchants to deliver, everything else was collected quickly.

Because it was the first attempt, Wei Wei did not ask anyone to directly build a mushroom house, but first selected two rooms with suitable conditions in the castle, and asked the carpenter to build a few bamboo and wood scaffolding, without plastic film, use grass Substitute materials such as bamboo curtains and sackcloth.

Several different culturing materials were processed by the slaves according to the instructions. Except for the 25-day fermentation time for the bisporus bisporus culturing materials after processing, the several oyster mushroom culturing materials were processed and mixed and could be sown directly.

Agaricus bisporus is suitable for cultivation in spring and autumn, and autumn is the most suitable. Wait for the culture material of Agaricus bisporus to be fermented for a month, which is almost around autumn. Oyster mushrooms can be planted all year round, especially in high temperature seasons. And now is summer, which is the most suitable time. It can be said that Wei Wei really takes advantage of the right time and place to think of the time to plant mushrooms.

The strains are also easy to find. Before, in order to make mushroom monosodium glutamate, Wei Wei once had people issue a purchase announcement to the lords. Now that announcement is still on the bulletin board, and the lords will send them to the castle from time to time. For fresh Agaricus bisporus and other edible fungi, Wei Wei only needs to add another one, and let them bring those Agaricus bisporus and oyster mushrooms together with the soil where they are growing, and then transplant these viable mushrooms into the culture. Just go to the top.

The news that Wei Wei was planning to artificially grow mushrooms quickly spread in the castle. Although everyone never thought that mushrooms could be artificially grown, they had already seen the miraculousness of the hostess, so when everyone heard the news, There is absolutely no doubt about whether it can be successful or not, and it is basically an enthusiastic discussion about when to see the mushrooms grow.

Oyster mushrooms will naturally grow first, and it takes about 30-35 days for oyster mushrooms to mature from inoculation to mycelium. The mushroom buds will grow rapidly within five days after the mycelium matures, and the first mushroom will be ready for harvest around the 45th day. It will stop after four months. At that time, in order to ensure production, it is necessary to replace the culture medium and inoculate again.

The growth cycle of Agaricus bisporus is similar to that of oyster mushrooms, but because the culture material needs to be fermented, the fruiting time will be delayed by oyster mushrooms for one month.

Of course, these are all things to come. Now, the mushroom house has just been established, and there are only piles of culturing materials like soil. Although the oyster mushrooms have been planted, no new mushrooms have appeared yet.

Wei Wei quickly left the mushroom house to a few slaves. After all, she had nothing but some theoretical knowledge, and the actual operation had to be explored by everyone.

When these slaves who were selected to cultivate mushrooms tremblingly checked and rummaged through the culture materials according to Wei Wei’s request, the attention of others was quickly drawn away by other things.

After corn is the harvest of potatoes. Although only ten acres of potatoes are planted in the manor, its output is an appalling figure for everyone.

Ten acres of fields eventually harvested 190,000 catties of potatoes, with an average yield of 19,000 catties per mu. This figure is three times that of corn and more than nine times that of wheat.

After experiencing the fright of the corn, the territorial people, who thought they had gained some stamina, dislocated their jaws again.

People who haven’t seen the scene naturally don’t believe the output, and they all doubted: “Is it a lie? How can there be so much grain per acre? That potato is not grain, but a vegetable or fruit, right?”

If it is said that vegetables and fruits have such a yield, they still believe that many people in the home now grow tomatoes. Although they are not yet ripe, the bunches of large and large fruits prove their high yield.

But tomatoes are tomatoes. Although there are many, they can’t fill the stomach. For food that can’t fill the stomach, everyone will more or less ignore their production, let alone compare them with staple foods such as wheat and barley.

Someone who saw everything at the potato harvesting site immediately retorted: “Of course not, I watched them dig out those potatoes, and after the harvest, the Countess generously cooked some for us to eat, it tasted delicious. It’s fragrant, and it’s very full, as long as you eat a few, your stomach will not be hungry at all.”

In fact, the taste of boiled potatoes with only a little salt can only be said to be average, but the soft taste of potatoes is very suitable for the appetite of local people with bad teeth, and it is the first time to eat this kind of food , is bragging about his own experience with others, that is naturally to say that there is nothing in the sky.

In addition to this, there is another news that is slowly spreading.

In the past, because of the need for confidentiality, a group of slaves who were brought to the villa to work had been kept there for a long time. They had no chance to contact other people for a long time, and even made many slaves think that they were because of She made a mistake and was dealt with by the master, but after the recent harvest of corn and potatoes, Wei Wei remembered that there were still a group of people locked up by her, so she ordered that there was no need to continue to keep secrets, and these slaves were also allowed to leave the villa occasionally and move freely. , so they have the opportunity to talk to other people.

Probably because they were locked up before, and now they don’t need to keep their secrets, so these slaves seem to have endless things to say when communicating with other people, and they can take out everything in the villa and repeat it again and again. Nagging, and others are willing to listen to them, especially when they hear that there are many new crops there that they can’t see anywhere else, they all know what these people have been taken to do before.

And when it comes to the harvest of corn and potatoes, these slaves who farm the fields at the villa will disapprove and say to the others with a tone of implied superiority: “What is this, wait and see the yield of sweet potatoes, that It’s the biggest one.”

Although someone asked them later, they would not say what the yield of sweet potatoes was, but just by listening to their tone, one could tell that these people were saying that the yield of sweet potatoes was even higher than that of potatoes.

But is it possible?

Most people who haven’t seen potatoes don’t even believe in the yield of potatoes, let alone sweet potatoes that haven’t been seen yet. They don’t believe it anyway.

But the serfs and slaves in the manor believed that, except for those who worked in the factories, the people in the other manor were much freer than before. As long as the daily work was completed, even the slaves could occasionally come out for a stroll. So, whether it’s harvesting corn or potatoes, curious people are always running to watch the fun, so they really saw the scene of the harvest.

So after hearing the words of the slaves who had planted these, everyone recalled the sweet potatoes they had seen before, which were a lot bigger than potatoes, and thought that if sweet potatoes also grow in nests like potatoes, then, I’m afraid this harvest can really be more than potatoes.

Someone even joked: “If it really grows as much as a potato, with the size of a sweet potato, the output might have to double.”

double? Doesn’t that mean that an acre of land has to be 36,000 to 70 pounds? As soon as this number came to mind, everyone’s first reaction was to wave to dismiss it.

It’s impossible, it’s impossible, it’s more likely, but double, it’s absolutely impossible… right?

Curiosity is something everyone has, and in order to satisfy it, everyone can always be more active.

It’s hard to ask about the slaves you know. Although they occasionally appear in front of people, they still work in the villa most of the time. The villa does not allow others to enter and leave at will, and the army is stationed around for training. Approaching, and these slaves seem to have made an appointment to deliberately not talk about cheating, they can’t find out if they want to inquire.

After thinking about it, I can only think of another way.

Recently, the maids around Wei Wei found that more people came to chat with them. Among them, Penny was the most harassed.

Penny complained, “I’m always asking me about sweet potatoes. Why are they so idle?”

She may control her own mouth now, gossip is gossip, the master’s affairs will not be revealed at all, and others will depend on her if they want to make a cliché. Moreover, her status among servants is high enough. If you don’t answer, you can just say no, and no one can do anything about her.

But it’s annoying to be asked the same question all the time.

But there is no way, who made her one of the people who have been with Wei Wei for the longest time and most likely to know about it, and another Qin who should also know about it is now the intern housekeeper, and everyone knows that she will be soon. She was about to change her position, and she became more and more prestigious among the servants, so no one dared to provoke her, so everyone naturally came to Penny, who was relatively easy to talk to.

Even Karma and the other maids were not too rhetorical, but they really didn’t know the inside story, so they couldn’t get anything out of it, so everyone stopped coming to them soon, and only focused on attacking Penny. side.

Wei Wei was a little surprised when she heard her complaint: “Why are they suddenly curious about this?”

The harvest season of sweet potatoes is in August, and it is only ten or twenty days away from now. You will be able to witness the results soon after waiting, so why be so anxious, and this should have nothing to do with the servants, they It’s a little surprising to be so curious to know the answer all of a sudden.

Penny was annoyed a lot, and naturally she knew something: “I heard that it seems that I got some inside information from the slaves at the villa, but those slaves didn’t say anything specific, so everyone was very curious about the production of sweet potatoes. .”

Therefore, some people are selling off their appetites and not giving answers, so they have hoisted the curiosity of other people.

Wei Wei shook her head amusingly, and then added a bit of prank interest: “If that’s the case, then let them wait a little longer, and then it will be more interesting to see it with your own eyes.”

Seeing her appearance, Penny knew what her mistress was thinking, and also smiled: “Yes, it will be very interesting then, does Madam want to see it?” She was eager to try.

“I think you want to join in the fun.” Wei Wei pointed out her intention, but she didn’t disagree: “Then let’s go and see it together.” She really wanted to see that everyone would show it. What expression, should be very interesting.

Unexpectedly, Wei Wei remembered the astonished expression that Felix and Butler Barton had when they knew the yield of these crops in the past, and it was interesting to think about it now.

Thinking about it this way, she didn’t go when the corn and potatoes were harvested before, didn’t she miss a lot of good shows.

Well, it’s time to call Felix too.

She told Felix about it, and the blond man thought about going with her: “Yes, we missed two good shows.”

Then he said another thing with a smile: “When I harvested the corn last time, Patton told me that the farm officer complained to him that he had been working too much recently, and all of them were so tired that they couldn’t straighten their waists. They asked me if I could I can’t give them more days off, I said at the time that I would give them a holiday when the potatoes were harvested.”

“Did that let go?”

“I’m about to put it away.” Felix leaned back in the chair and smiled, “But I think they will complain again when the sweet potatoes start to be collected.”

Wei Wei also smiled: “You are right, I also think they will complain.”

There are more than 500 acres of sweet potato fields, the normal sweet potato yield is more than 18 million catties, and the land where these sweet potatoes are grown are all fertile and high-grade fields, and they are carefully cared for by serfs, and there is no shortage of water and fertilization. Wei Wei had seen the sweet potato seedlings in the field, and by the appearance of the leaves and stems, she knew that the production of sweet potatoes would have to rise a lot this year, and she estimated that it would reach 20 million kilograms.

This number is equivalent to the whole of Sardinson County this year, including those baronial knights, all the wheat produced, no, or even more, after all, everyone’s land is not only used to grow wheat.

In other words, harvesting sweet potatoes once is equivalent to keeping the agricultural officials busy for another wheat harvest, or a bumper wheat harvest.

Wei Wei covered her mouth and smiled: “I think they will cry when the time comes.”

“That’s something that can’t be helped.” Felix also smiled: “In the future, they will only get busier and busier. If they don’t get used to it first, how can they finish their work well in the future.”

Seeing the bad idea on his face, Wei Wei couldn’t help feeling sympathy for those people: “You’d better add some more people to them, or you’ll get tired and sick, but no one will do anything.”

“Come on, aren’t you already preparing for this year’s civil service exam? You should be able to recruit more people by then.”

But because last year’s exam was in October, this year’s time was also set on the same date, which means that when sweet potatoes were harvested, there were only so many farm officers.

However, Felix is ​​not really a noble who treats his subordinates harshly, so he is joking: “If I am really busy at that time, I will dispatch some people from other places to help.”

Whether it is from other departments, factories, or even castles, there are many people who can write and calculate, and the required labor can also temporarily dispatch all slaves, and will not really let the agricultural officers and the newbies they bring. exhausted.

Wei Wei thought of something else.

She asked, “Have many people come to you recently for corn and potatoes?”

Felix: “All the nobles in the capital have written letters to buy them, and some merchants have come to ask about corn, but very few people want to buy potatoes.”

The main reason is that corn grew on corn stalks before, and people who came to the castle could see it. They had an impression of this crop. After knowing the yield, they were surprised, but it was not a big surprise, but potatoes were different. , they grow in the soil, and there are not many plants, a short piece, and the appearance of the fruit is not visible. The merchants are not impressed by it, and they have not seen the scene of harvesting, so most people are very concerned about it. Potato yields are skeptical—if they were about the same as corn, they probably would have believed it, but three times the difference is so scary that it’s hard to believe it’s true no matter how you think about it.

Therefore, cautious businessmen are all interested in corn, although some people have asked about potatoes, but not much.

Felix: “They want to see the production of potatoes, but we haven’t planted enough potatoes this year, so I don’t plan to sell potatoes, so I didn’t let them see.”

In order to preserve the seed potatoes, the harvested potatoes are put into the cellar and sealed, and the cellars specially prepared for potatoes are the same as wells, with only a large hole at the wellhead, which is too troublesome to enter and exit, and easily affects the potatoes stored in it. And what people want to know is the yield of potatoes per mu, so of course they have to show all the potatoes before they believe it. That’s 190,000 catties. Since Felix doesn’t plan to sell potatoes this year, naturally he won’t let them. It takes a lot of effort for people to take out the potatoes that they have just collected and show them to others.

Wei Wei nodded: “Indeed, although the potatoes are harvested a lot, they are still a little less used for seeding. It really shouldn’t be sold this year. What about the king and the others? Do you want to give it?”

“That is to be given, but I have already replied that there is not much for potatoes, and the other two can be considered to sell a little more, and the price has been reported to them. If they agree, they will send someone to trade at the end of August.” At the end of August, the sweet potatoes have been collected, and you can bring back everything you want at that time, so as not to make an extra trip back and forth.

At present, the reply from the royal capital has not yet arrived, but no one will refuse it. Although the price he gave is high for the servants, it is definitely a low price for the nobles. You must know that at this time There is an unspoken rule among businessmen, that the price of things sold to nobles is always much higher than that of ordinary people. Even if it is the same thing, they can make hype and make nobles think that what they are buying has something to do with it. value,

Felix didn’t give them a special “aristocratic price”, but a uniform selling price, which ordinary commoners could afford, and those nobles naturally couldn’t afford it.

They may even think that the price Felix gave is very low, and praise him for his generosity. If they have such a high-yield and only one of the crops, they can increase the number several times.

Wei Wei: “In this case, it’s better to let them come over early and see the harvest of sweet potatoes with their own eyes. After all, you don’t give out a lot, and they may be worried about the production of sweet potatoes. They think that the reason why they grow well is because Because of the careful care, it may not be so good if it is planted on a large scale, it is better to let them see it with their own eyes.”

After Felix heard it, he thought for a while and said, “Then call those businessmen who are interested in buying together to have a look.”