The rotation farming system does not matter for villages or small towns with low population density, but the land around big cities is tight, and using this method is tantamount to wasting land. Places like Yinguang City, Falling Dragon Ridge and Wangdu import large amounts of food from other towns every month.
The first step in using human and animal fat is to collect them first. That's why Roland decided to build public toilets as soon as possible. At the same time, it can reduce the spread of diseases and beautify the living environment. When the remaining batches of people arrive, the toilet is almost finished. As for how to compost and how to sow the land, he decided to select a group of experienced old farmers to teach them individually in a few days. After all, the land is still in the stage of leveling and clearing, and it will take at least a week to start farming.
After finishing the work at hand, he decided to go to the experimental field of leaves in the back garden.
Since leaving Leaf to research various seed improvements, crops have been planted wherever flowers can be grown in the garden. She also divided the flower pond into many blocks and numbered them according to Roland's suggestion, so that the development results of the two groups of test crops could be compared.
As soon as Roland stepped into the yard, he was blinded by the fluffy golden wheat.
"His Royal Highness." Seeing the prince, Ye Ye, who was squatting beside the flower pond, got up and tucked the hair around his ears, bowed and saluted.
"This is all the result of your improvement?" He waved his hand, indicating that the other party didn't need to be too polite. He walked over and excitedly picked up a heavy wheat ear, feeling its full caryopsis with his fingers.
He had no concept of what wheat could look like, but compared to his childhood memories of the wheat fields in the capital, the ears of wheat were not only smaller than those in his hands, but the grains were also much shrunken.
Ye Zi nodded and said, "I'll make the wheat ears bigger first, and after ripening and harvesting the seeds, I will plant new seeds in the flower pond to get such wheat ears. But... Repeat this process, after two or three rounds of sowing, It's hard to grow big, long ears of wheat. I don't know why."
Unfortunately, I can't help you with this, Roland thought. According to his poor and pitiful junior high school biology knowledge, it is probably because of self-crossing defects? Rice is grown in the south, which is far from wheat. In order to increase production, the seeds are also bought. However, it has practical value if it can be maintained for two generations. A single wheat plant can produce more than 130 seeds. The first batch of seeds is transformed from leaves, and then the farmers can make their own seeds, which can be used at least. two years.
"What about this one, why is it empty?" Roland noticed a flower bed with only a few dry straws.
"I planted it there at the beginning, maybe because I planted it too many times," Ye Zi said uncertainly, "If I cast magic power, the wheat can grow quickly, but after the magic power is removed, they will wither quickly."
It seems that the plants that have been transformed by magic power still need land to supply nutrients to continue to grow, and some trace elements are still essential. Roland walked to the last flower bed. The wheat planted here had a very strange shape. There were several clusters of cyan wheat ears hanging from an arm-thick wheat stalk. There were also several branches extending from the center of the stalk, and the branches were covered with green leaves. Therefore, the volume of each wheat plant is also relatively large, and only two plants are planted in the flower bed.
This is the magic modified wheat tree that Roland asked Ye Ye to try.
The direction he envisions is to make wheat like a banana tree, which bears fruit from the branches and is harvested regularly every year, thereby saving the trouble of plowing and sowing, while growing larger and more green leaves, improving photosynthesis, and reducing the impact of land requirements. At present, the sturdy straw and branches take up a little space, and only the branches grow wheat ears, which is not in line with the original idea. Or, let the leaves try to improve in the direction of the vine? Roland thought, after all, she had never seen a real banana tree, and grapes were not a rare product in Graycastle, so it should be easier to imitate if there was a comparison.
"The seeds of these three wheat plants can't be used for sowing," Ye Ye said. "I tried it, and the grains didn't germinate after planting them. But it does bear fruit repeatedly, and the ears you see are already the second batch. ."
The inability to germinate means that each wheat tree is unique and needs to be transformed by the leaves, and the current planting value is not large. "You are doing very well. The variety of barley ears is called Golden No. 1. I will leave a test field for you on the south bank of the Chishui River. It will be covered with fences and partitions. You can ripen a batch of golden one there as soon as possible. No., used for this year's spring planting." Roland ordered, "As for the garden, continue to use it to improve new varieties. I just came up with a lot of ideas. Not only wheat crops, but also grapes are worth trying."
It's a pity that Ye Zi can only understand the characteristics of a crop at the macro level: such as many fruits, sweet taste, dense branches, etc... If she can understand the micro level, can she directly manipulate genes and make subtle and precise adjustments? For example, plants can absorb light other than visible light, such as ultraviolet light, x-rays, and even ionizing radiation to perform photosynthesis, and directly produce energy storage materials such as starch, glucose, and sucrose, so that people can directly grow crops in the cultivation tank.
In the evening, the fourth prince lit a bonfire by the Chishui River, and ordered Carter and his guards to gather all the serfs. Pots and pans of cauldrons were carried here by the lead people, and they were placed on a newly built simple mud stove to make porridge on a fire.
The serfs looked down at the new master whose back was facing the bonfire, whose figure was dragged out of the long and narrow shadow by the fire, and lowered their heads in fear. There are also some daring ones who still secretly look at the prince from time to time.
Roland stood in front of the bonfire and announced the rules he had set to the thousand people.
"I'm Roland Wimbledon, the fourth prince of Graycastle, the lord of Border Town, and the master of the Western Region!"
"I called you here to tell everyone that it is your luck to be able to come to this territory! As long as you work hard, you can get rid of your current status and status!"
"Yes, I will give you a chance to get rid of slavery and become free!"
There was an uproar among the serfs. What it means to be free people, these serfs know very well that they can no longer be cruelly abused by their masters, no longer have to be forced to work endlessly, and the crops produced in the fields no longer need to be turned over to their masters, their sons and daughters, and also Can get rid of serf status.
After waiting for a while, Roland continued: "From tomorrow, each of you will be allocated a fixed piece of land, and at the same time, someone will instruct you on how to cultivate so that you can harvest more wheat. In the first year, you will be harvested in the field. You can keep 30% for yourself, and turn 70% over to Border Town. Those who have harvested the best will be promoted to free citizens!”
"After you become a free citizen, your family members can be exempted from slavery. As for whether to continue farming or find other livelihoods in the town, it is up to you to decide. For those who choose to farm, 20% of the harvested grain will be paid as rent. The remaining 80% is under your own control. Those who make a living will return their fields to the lords, and of course, there is no need to hand over any food!"
As soon as these words came out, there was only a sound of breathing. At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "Your Highness, is what you said true?"
"Of course," Roland said word by word, "As a lord, I never deceive my people."
"Your Highness is merciful," someone couldn't help shouting in a low voice, and then the voice quickly became high-pitched, "Long live Your Royal Highness!"
A serf in the front row knelt down with the shouting, followed by the second and third...
Until he knelt down in the field and the blackness was overwhelmed, and the voices came one after another, more and more and louder. People's voices finally converged to the same rhythm, "His Royal Highness is merciful! Long live His Royal Highness!"
Since there is an echo, there will be no need for care anymore, the prince thought.
He clapped his hands and instructed the guards behind him, "Let's have dinner!" (If you like this work, you are welcome to come and vote. Your support is my biggest motivation. Please come.)