Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1088 The customer is happy, but the market is small.

When Old Chen arrived at the cotton field with Li Long, sitting on the leaf-shaped board, they could hear Wang Mingjun scolding a worker from afar:
"What are you doing? A third of these dozens of acres of cotton are infested with spider mites, and you're only reporting it to me now? Why didn't you wait until the spider mites had eaten all the leaves before reporting it to me?"

Li Long and his men parked the tractor at the edge of the field, walked to the edge but didn't go in, just watched from a distance.

The scientific name for spider mites is spider mite, but that's what we've called them locally for decades. They are pests that are almost invisible to the naked eye. They live on the underside of cotton leaves and suck the sap from the leaves.

This thing can climb onto other cotton leaves and onto people, spreading to other places as people walk through the cotton field.

What's even more disgusting is that this thing can be blown to other places by the wind!
Therefore, under normal circumstances, when cotton plants grow to half a meter tall and the leaves are already very dense, farmers will not wander around in other people's fields, mainly because they are afraid of spreading pests.

At first, people didn't pay much attention and often went to other people's fields to chat or ask questions.

It wasn't until later, when agricultural extension workers came to the rural area to share information, that things became clear.

The cotton plants in the field are now 60-70 centimeters tall and very lush. Li Long observed that the tops of the cotton plants had already been pruned and they were now growing branches in all directions. The cotton flowers had already bloomed, and some of the earlier ones had even started to set fruit.

When someone came over, Wang Mingjun didn't know what to say.

Actually, he could have completely ignored it, since the way the Production and Construction Corps farms now is not the same as the large-scale collective farming method.

Currently, the production and construction corps companies distribute land to individual workers. In the spring, the higher authorities distribute seeds, fertilizers, plastic film, and other supplies to the farmers. Sowing is carried out uniformly by the company, while field management is handled by the workers themselves.

Watering is done in shifts, with the worker responsible for watering whichever plot of land is next to them. At harvest time, the wheat is primarily collected by Kangmaiyin, and the amount collected from each household is recorded collectively.

Cash crops like cotton are usually harvested by the workers themselves. After harvesting, they hand the cotton and linen to the farm or regiment's cotton and linen company, which is responsible for registration, and the workers keep a receipt.

After all the harvest seasons are over, when winter comes, the farm distributes the proceeds from the harvest of each household's crops, after deducting expenses such as seed, fertilizer, water, and mechanized farming costs, to the production team, which then forwards the money to the workers.

The company may or may not retain a portion for collective expenses; it depends on the individual.

Basically, employees wouldn't see cash in their homes until late winter or near the end of the year. As for how much, we can only guess.

After all, the price of agricultural products is graded, and you can't just set a grade and expect it to be whatever you want. And each household's own estimate of expenses is only a rough estimate.

This can easily lead to conflict, since for farmers it's just an approximation, while for the collective the figures are more transparent.

This is still essentially a system of equal distribution of resources, except there's a certain level of motivation to work. After all, these aren't farmers; they're employees who will receive a pension after retiring at sixty.

This method of land allocation continued for thirty years until the Production and Construction Corps also carried out land reform, allocating fifty mu of land to each employee, which they could cultivate until retirement. Upon retirement, they would return the land and begin receiving retirement benefits.

However, this planting method has not been fully implemented.

Therefore, the final yield of cotton for this worker is related to his own interests, and Wang Mingjun can completely disregard it.

Firstly, Wang Mingjun was used to meddling in other people's business; after all, he was the company commander and had a strong sense of responsibility. Secondly, these cotton fields were all adjacent; if one field had spider mites, and it wasn't controlled in time, it would quickly spread to other fields.

Once infected with spider mites, the chlorophyll in cotton leaves is destroyed, the plant becomes weak, flower buds fall off and no fruit is produced, resulting in no cotton and a natural reduction in yield.

"What brings you here?" Wang Mingjun walked out of the field, dusted himself off, and shook hands with Li Long. "What's that towed behind your tractor?"

"Spray the pesticide." Li Long had already seen the worker who had been given a military lecture by Wang Ming walk out of the field, pick up the sprayer at the edge of the field, and it seemed that he was going to spray pesticides.

Not only him, but several other people arrived one after another, some on bicycles and some leading horse-drawn carriages. They all carried sprayers, and their purpose was obviously the same.

Li Long thought to himself, "What a coincidence!"

It wasn't really a coincidence. With such a large production team and so many acres of cotton planted, at this stage, someone was spraying pesticides almost every day, either at this farm or that farm, targeting spider mites, bollworms, or aphids.

The main problem is that cotton is too prone to insects, and because it grows so densely, the insects spread easily.

We have no choice but to fight.

"A medicine bottle? For spraying medicine?" Wang Mingjun's eyes lit up immediately. "Is this for me?"

"Yes, it's just been produced and is currently being tested. I knew you grow cotton here, so I brought it over. Perfect timing, would you like to give it a try?"

"This..." Wang Mingjun hesitated when he heard about the test.

This isn't like a scientist conducting an experiment. When crops are infested with pests, every second counts; there's simply no time to conduct experiments.

If the spraying is ineffective and the optimal time for application is missed, the losses will certainly be significant.

Li Long can afford the losses, but the employees can't.

"What? Don't you believe me?" Li Long laughed. "Come, come, let me introduce it to you." Li Long pulled Wang Mingjun to the medicine pot—actually it's called Tianshan brand medicine sprayer, it has a brand and name, but Li Long just used to calling it medicine pot.

Everyone else gathered around. The level of agricultural mechanization in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps is currently among the highest in the country. Everyone wants to make farming easier, so having machinery is a huge advantage!

"Look, drive the tractor into the field, and once this pole is extended, it can spray cotton three to four times at the same time." Li Long went to the back first, unfolded the three-fold frame with the hose attached, and showed everyone the nozzles on it:
"This is adjustable. If the cotton level is too high, adjust it upwards; if the cotton level is too low, adjust it downwards. If the film is too wide, adjust it to the sides; if the film is too narrow, adjust it to the center."

One row of cotton is two rows, meaning two rows of cotton are planted under one plastic film, which is called one row.

Li Long said that "wide" and "narrow" are just conventional terms; currently, only narrow films are used, but in a few years, wide films with four rows per pass will emerge. As for the film used for machine-harvested cotton, it will not be discussed for now.

Those who grew cotton understood what it meant at a glance and upon hearing it, and they all nodded in agreement.

No one would ask whether the wheels of the tractor and the medicine tank would crush the cotton. When sowing, the plastic film was laid by a small four-wheeled tractor, so the small four-wheeled tractor could just fit on both sides of the film without damaging the cotton.

The wheel track of the medicine jar is the same as that of the small four-wheeled vehicle, so the same principle applies.

As for whether the cotton plants will grow too tall and run over by the small four-wheeled vehicle, since the small four-wheeled vehicle is only 40 or 50 centimeters tall underneath them.

This will inevitably cause some damage, but it won't break the top of the cotton plant. Living plants have a certain resilience, and cotton is no exception. At most, a small four-wheeled vehicle can only take away some weaker leaves.

There's no need to think of cotton as too fragile. Although many insects come to attack it, the fact that it can grow so lushly in the vast world is itself not fragile.

“Look at these nozzles, there are some on the top and some on the bottom,” Li Long continued, “When the air pump on the tractor starts, these nozzles can spray out medicine to kill spider mites. If you’re worried about wasting medicine, just turn off the nozzles that spray downwards. Of course, if you want to use them all, you can leave them all on.”

"It's just a giant sprayer," someone said with a laugh. "It looks kind of cool, actually."

"One spraying session takes three to four rounds, and my plot of land is finished in just two rounds!"

"That's right, it's much better than having someone carry you!"

"Who wants to try first?" After reading it, Wang Mingjun understood and felt it was quite reliable.

When he said that, the others looked at each other, somewhat hesitant.

After all, you can tell from the sound that this thing is just for testing, so how effective it is is another matter.

However, someone soon spoke up:

"Let's see how it goes in my field first." This was the landlord of this area, the one being reprimanded by Wang Ming.

This man was older than Wang Mingjun, looking to be around forty years old. Li Long couldn't tell if he had a Shandong or Henan accent, but it sounded somewhat similar. "Alright, let's get the medicine ready. Xiao Long, I'll take you to get the water. You guys wanted to watch, right? Come help us fill the container with water."

"Should we kill all the spider mites in the field or just a few?" Li Long asked. "How many acres should we kill? We need to consider the amount of water to irrigate."

“Simple, just spray them all! He’s already been running around the fields several times, what else can we do but spray them all?” Wang Mingjun made the decision immediately. “Shoot them. We’ll see results in two or three days after spraying the spider mites. You guys take your sprayers and spray them. Of course, if you want to use a tractor, then take turns.”

At this time, there aren't many rules about spraying pesticides. There's a well not far from the field, and they're pumping water to irrigate the fields right now. Everyone follows along, and those with buckets just use them to carry water.

In Li Long's design, the sprayer comes with a water pipe. Li Long inserts one end of the water pipe into the well outlet and the other end into the inlet of the medicine tank. The water quickly fills up. He takes out the pipe, tightens the cap, and pulls it back.

It's relatively easy to kill spider mites at this time of year, as the insects don't have much resistance to pesticides. Ordinary acaricides and insecticides can kill them, so there's no need to use highly toxic pesticides like 3911.

Ordinary people are quite aware of the toxicity of 9911, or rather, they have an obsession with it. Although you occasionally hear about people who have been injected with 9911 and died from the fumes in poorly ventilated areas, they will still inject it if they can buy it.

Of course, it was later banned because it was too toxic.

After preparing the medicine at the field, all that's left is to spray it.

Who will turn on the computer?

Li Long readily agreed, after all, he designed this thing and had driven it before.

The tractor drove into the field first, and once inside, Li Long stopped and began discussing with the landlord how to adjust the nozzles and pressure of the sprayer.

Each nozzle is adjustable. The homeowner simply turned the spray volume to the maximum, and Li Long didn't care. After all, it was someone else's land and their own pesticide; he was just there to test it.

The medicine jar was almost identical to the one he remembered, except for its size, so he handled it with ease.

The tractor started moving, and everyone else stared intently at the nozzles. Then they saw the nozzles suddenly spurt water out, the water pressure was so high that the blades were shaking violently.

"Not bad, not bad, you can spray it from top to bottom, and even the back of the leaves." Old Chen has good eyesight; he immediately noticed that the spray from the nozzle formed a mist due to the high pressure, directly covering the leaves.

If it's covered from top to bottom, the red spider will obviously have no chance of escaping.

The homeowner was quite excited, but he was still a little worried and wanted to go inside to take a look.

Wang Mingjun didn't stop him. His pants would definitely get wet if he went over there, but since they wanted to see the effects of the medicine, they decided to let him.

The medicine smelled pungent, but nobody wore masks as a precaution. People were used to it, and wearing one would be considered pretentious.

Fortunately, there was a wind, a northwest wind, which carried the sprayed pesticide mist far away.

Li Long drove very steadily, neither too fast nor too slow, with the front and rear wheels pressing precisely into the gaps in the film, without damaging the cotton.

The spider mites hadn't actually spread to this area, but just to be on the safe side, the area being sprayed with pesticide needed to be expanded. The landlord followed behind the tractor, occasionally checking the cotton leaves, and sometimes spotting other insects that had fallen onto the leaves and were already soaked in the pesticide solution.

From that moment on, Li Long decided not to eat the honey from this area.

Because cotton needs to be sprayed with pesticides many times a year to control pests such as spider mites, aphids, and bollworms, it's impossible to suppress them without spraying. Although the technicians at the agricultural extension station also said that biological pest control, using natural enemies, would be best.

But these natural enemies are also afraid of pesticides. If you don't spray here, but you spray in other fields, won't the pests just run to your field? Natural enemies have a large range of activity. If they eat dead pests in other places, they will die too.

Mobile beekeepers often come here, mainly because sunflowers and cotton are planted on a large scale here, making it easier for bees to collect pollen and nectar.

But Li Long was worried that there were too many pesticides in those honeys, so he didn't eat them at all. He would either buy them in Yili or in Nanshan.

After all, in places with vast grasslands, at least the honey bought on the spot back then wouldn't be fake, and when wildflowers were in full bloom, there was no need to feed the bees sugar.

After one round trip, most of the areas infested with spider mites had been sprayed with pesticide. To ensure the insects were completely eradicated, the tractor made two more round trips, not only covering the entire area but also spraying the spider-infested areas twice.

It's normal to spray pesticides on the field twice, carrying a sprayer on your back, just in case the pesticide isn't covered.

"Actually, one application is enough," the landlord said cheerfully. "I watched it from beginning to end, and the spray could reach almost all the leaves. The pressure of this nozzle is very high, much bigger than a sprayer. It blows the leaves open directly, and the spray can even reach the bottom of the leaves inside."

The most stressful thing is actually the kind of sprayer that will be invented in a few years, which is manually carried but has a gasoline engine. The nozzle is a thick tube, and after adding gasoline, the sprayed mist is very dense and covers a wide area.

It's just too heavy. Carrying a manual sprayer that weighs ten or twenty kilograms is difficult enough, but this thing is equipped with a gasoline engine and weighs twenty or thirty kilograms after adding the pesticide. It takes several kilometers to spray a field. Who can stand that?

So after a brief, fleeting appearance, it disappeared.

With the landlord giving such a firsthand account, the other families decided not to take the blame anymore. Since they had this opportunity, why bother making things difficult for themselves?

Besides, the company commander is right here. It's obvious that the spraying machine is free. It's using the company commander's connections, so why not take advantage of it!
Therefore, except for one family that hesitated and insisted on carrying their own sprayer to apply the pesticides, the other families changed their minds and wanted to use Li Long's sprayer.

"Comrade Li Long, come here, let me do it." Wang Mingjun, as Li Jianguo's former partner, treated Li Long like a younger brother. How could he let him stay here alone to apply the medicine? He shooed Li Long away and said:

"Tell me how to operate it. Is this thing like operating a tiller?"

Li Long explained to him how to operate it. It was actually very simple. The main operations were all done on the medicine tank. All you needed to do on the tractor side was start the air pump.

Wang Mingjun quickly got the hang of it, drove for more than ten meters, looked at the pesticide being sprayed behind him, and laughed loudly, saying:

"Hey, this is really advanced! With this thing, it'll be so much easier for the company to spray pesticides!"

Anyone who has ever grown cotton knows how difficult it is to carry a sprayer in the sweltering heat. Now, with this thing, what used to take half a day to spray can be done in just over half an hour, and the risk of being poisoned by the pesticide is completely eliminated. It's a win-win situation.

Old Chen went back early, riding Wang Mingjun's bicycle. When he got back to the company headquarters, he saw Political Instructor Zheng Xiangyang returning from a meeting.

"The company commander hasn't returned yet?" Zheng Xiangyang asked.

"No. Li Long came over with a new sprayer, and the company commander is watching him spray the pesticide."

"A pesticide sprayer?" Zheng Xiangyang was somewhat surprised. "What pesticide sprayer?"

"It's a tractor that carries a sprayer. One can of pesticide can cover dozens of acres, which is much better than carrying a sprayer on your back."

"There's this too?" Zheng Xiangyang was taken aback for a moment, then laughed. "Now it'll be much easier to keep the cotton from getting infested. That Li Long is amazing! By the way, why are you back?"

"Dinner is about to start, and since they're here, I need to prepare properly."

"Yes, yes, I need to slaughter a chicken. I remember that someone slaughtered some mutton yesterday, I'll go buy some..."

"I'll go, I'll go. I'll have to go buy the mutton myself," Old Chen said with a smile. "I'll leave the chicken-slaughtering to Xiao Wang. Instructor, you go about your business, I'll take care of the kitchen."

Zheng Xiangyang smiled and said nothing. He walked to the entrance of the joint gate and looked towards the cotton field.

The faint sound of a tractor could be heard from that direction, growing louder and louder. Soon, Wang Mingjun could be seen driving the tractor, with Li Long sitting on the trolley. The two of them were shouting as they drove towards them—there was no other way; the small four-wheeled tractor engine was quite loud, and the wind was strong, so they had to shout to be heard.

Cotton has gradually become an important industry in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps' agriculture, so eliminating pests in cotton is crucial for the company, a point that Zheng Xiangyang understands.

So when Li Long got off the tractor, Zheng Xiangyang stretched out his hands with a smile:
"Thank you so much, Comrade Li Long! You've come to our aid in our time of need!"

Hearing this, Li Long was very happy. Just based on this attitude, he felt that coming here was the right decision!
(End of this chapter)