The correct way to open the elf

Chapter 146: Bo Rui's Shock

Borri, who followed Feng Yu and Dick onto the wasteland, was stunned by the scene before him.

Because of the nearly 20-meter height difference between the wasteland and the surface of the Lengshui River, Borui was unable to see the fertile irrigated fields in the wasteland that the messenger had mentioned while on the boat.

But when he really stepped onto the wilderness, what he saw was not the vast fields of corn as he had imagined, but a plant that is very common on the riverside, cattail.

In the farmland surrounded by squares, there are neat rows of cattails, which are obviously planted artificially and are definitely not naturally grown.

"This this……"

Bo Rui thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

Even though Bori, as the successor to the dwarf king, had great abilities and vision, he did not expect that he would see such a scene when he first arrived at the Cattail City camp.

“This is a cattail field, the work of Alan Heimer, the patriarch of the Halfling Heimer clan. He developed a set of techniques for growing cattail seedlings.

A complete set of technology for growing cattails in paddy fields has been developed on the yellow soil near the Lengshui River that can retain water.

What you see now is the first batch of cattails planted this year. This thing has escaped from the cold shallows of the cold water river and adapted well to the hot wasteland.

The cattails planted in the paddy fields began to produce ears in midsummer and are still producing ears today. The overall yield has exceeded that of corn."

Bo Rui said in disbelief: "That is to say, you are now..."

Feng Yu said: "Yes, the first batch of Xiangxue rice has entered the dining tables of the three tribes in the camp, but because it is only an experimental planting this year, the planting area is not large and the yield is not much, so it is not sold to the Snow Peak Mountains and the Longyue Forest.

However, starting from next summer, this situation should change, and the camp’s farmland should be able to sell a small amount of fragrant snow rice to the outside world.”

Bori didn't know what to say. The king of the Dwarf Kingdom and the high-ranking officials like them could only eat the wild fragrant snow rice which was only grown in small quantities on the banks of Lengshui River less than twice a year. Yet, it was on the dining tables of the three tribes in Xiangpu City.

"It's just incredible."

Dick smiled and said, "The name of the camp is Cattail City. It has to live up to its name!"

Borri asked, "Can cattails produce more than corn?"

“That’s right. After the cattails are planted, the ears begin to mature in small quantities from midsummer, and they slowly stop forming when the climate in the wilderness turns cooler, so they can be harvested for half a year.

And because cattails need to be soaked in water to grow, paddy fields can also be used to breed fish and frogs. When the cattail seedlings grow taller, wild geese and other birds can be raised in them. Not only can we harvest fragrant snow rice, but we can also harvest a lot of meat and eggs. "

Bo Rui kept saying "this" for a long time. He was so surprised by this thing that he didn't know what to say.

Before Bo Rui could calm down from his surprise, Feng Yu smiled and told him another situation that left him speechless.

"Because of the climate of the Great Wasteland, these cattails can survive freezing even in the coldest winter. The halfling brothers are still conducting experiments to see if the cattails will grow taller and more vigorously and produce more ears next year after spending the winter in the wasteland.

That is, cattail could be a crop that could be planted once and harvested for many years.

I heard that a small amount of cattails were planted along the Green Water River between the two major human empires. However, when humans were planting cattails, the three tribes had already lost contact with humans, so this possibility is still uncertain and we can only try it slowly.

However, even if the amount of cattails harvested for half a year decreases next year, we can still replant them every year.

Even so, growing cattails is much less labor-intensive than growing corn and sweet potatoes.”

Bo Rui looked at Feng Yu and Dick and said, "This is really a huge shock to me."

Dick laughed loudly, and he and Feng Yu brought Bori, rode on the prepared mountain goats and horned deer, and walked along the canal, looking at the cattail fields along the way.

Even though he was driving a "luxury car", it took him a long time to reach the place where corn and sweet potatoes were planted. Only here did Bo Rui find a glimpse of what he had imagined a fertile farmland should look like. After all, cattail planting was so shocking that he had never dared to think about it.

The leaves at the bottom of large fields of corn have begun to turn yellow, which is a sign that the corn is about to mature and also a harbinger of a good harvest.

Bo Rui looked at the corn field and said with emotion: "Even in the irrigated fields where cattails cannot be grown, the corn here grows much larger than the corn cobs we planted in the forest land we reclaimed in the southern part of the Snow Summit Mountains."

Feng Yu said: "It's not just because of the water irrigation, the hardworking halfling brothers also use livestock manure to increase the fertility of the fields, which is also a necessary condition for high yields.

Otherwise, if we rely solely on the fertility of the land itself, even if irrigation is convenient and the yield is so high year after year, the land itself will not be able to withstand it.

So it’s not just farming, but also using the straw from crops like corn to raise livestock, which not only provides meat but also fertilizes the fields with livestock manure, which is a very good agricultural production cycle.”

Bo Rui nodded and said, "It seems that we still have a lot to learn!"

Feng Yu really didn't need so many workers, otherwise he really didn't want the dwarves to learn farming. But after all, food was the basis of survival. Halflings alone could not provide all the food for the elves and dwarves outside the camp.

“That’s okay. The halflings in the camp have been irrigating the fields for two years and have gained a lot of experience. We can send some halflings over to guide you when the time comes.

This thing is not difficult. As long as you are willing to work hard, the farmland with no shortage of water will not disappoint the dwarf brothers.

As for steam engines, water pumps, pipes and other things, we will install them and provide daily maintenance.

Master Mason discovered a flint layer around the magnetite. Although it is a bit far from the river, it can be used. The only difference is that it is a bit difficult to transport.

However, the steam pump does not need to be run all the time, so transportation is not a big problem.

Let's raise more livestock, and use the method of floating wood on Lengshui River to transport more wood to make animal-powered wooden carts. We can provide axles and steel wheel inner rings, which can still solve the problem of flint transportation.

The wood can also be used to build houses. I will take you to see our residential area later. The houses with thick brick walls and thick earth roofs are very suitable for living in the wilderness. They can effectively block the scorching sun in the wilderness and are very comfortable to live in. "

Bori knew about the transportation of timber on the Lengshui River. Many unemployed dwarves went to cut down trees along the river and exchange them for salt from the steamboats in Cattail City.

This is almost becoming a fashion in the Snow Summit Mountains. A lot of the coniferous forests along the Lengshui River have been cut down.

(End of this chapter)