Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 272 Hope (Part )

On the morning of April 1634, 4, the spring chill was intense, but the eastern sky was already turning pale, heralding the beginning of a new day.

In the fields outside Tianshi Village in Dongping County, farmers have already started their busy spring plowing.

Although there is still a hint of chill in the early morning air, the earth has completely awakened from its winter slumber, and the fragrance of the soil mixed with the scent of grass roots permeates the fields.

Chen Wangquan stood on the edge of the field, loosened his fur coat, looked up at the sky, then bent down, picked up a handful of soil with his rough hands, and rubbed it carefully.

The soil was moist and soft, with a hint of coolness, but no longer as hard as iron as it was in winter.

He nodded with satisfaction and said to his wife beside him, "The soil is ready. We need to finish turning the land today so we can plant the seeds in a few days."

His wife giggled and imitated him, grabbing a handful of dirt from the ground, rubbing it, and then throwing it up.

"Hey..." Chen Wangquan glared at her and shook his head to shake off the dirt. "Stop making trouble and hurry up and get to work!"

This native woman has been with me for six or seven years, but she is still so ignorant. It really makes me worried!

"Hey!..." The wife responded, then took off the basket carrying her one-year-old daughter, carefully placed it on the edge of the field, then grabbed the hoe and dug the ground hard.

The hoe dug deep into the earth, making a dull thud. The dark brown soil was rolled up, revealing the soft soil underneath.

Not far away, other farmers were also busy with their work.

Someone was leading an ox rented from the cooperative, holding a plow, and walking slowly back and forth in the field.

The plowshare moved across the ground, turning over the soil neatly and forming straight furrows and ridges.

The plowing ox was breathing heavily and walking steadily, occasionally lowering its head to nibble on the tender grass on the ridge of the field, but the driver gently pulled the reins to urge it to move forward.

Although Xinhua has continuously increased its efforts in breeding cattle and horses in recent years, the increase in animal power has never kept pace with the speed of the increasing development of farmland.

In addition, the war with the Spanish forced the smuggling activities of both sides to stop three years ago, further slowing the increase in animal power.

As a result, agricultural production in many places in Xinhua has not yet fully realized animal-powered farming, leaving the vast majority of farmers relying on the most primitive human labor.

Therefore, in order to regain the channels for introducing livestock and improve its own agricultural production efficiency, it is very necessary for Xinhua to quickly reach a ceasefire with the Spaniards.

"Damn it! This land needs to be plowed by oxen!"

Chen Wangquan turned over half a ridge of the field in one breath, then straightened up, looked back at the small piece of field he had turned over, and then glanced in the direction of the ox plowing next door, muttering to himself.

Since the village cooperative has a limited number of oxen, each household usually takes turns using them by drawing lots in advance, and the period of use is only two days.

Oxen can only plow three to four acres of land a day. If the soil is hard or contains many stones, the plowing speed will be significantly slowed down, and it may only be able to plow one to two acres a day.

Of course, if you extend the plowing time and provide good feeding and care for the oxen, you can plow a few more acres of land every day.

But no matter how hard they try, it is impossible for each farmer to plow all the 40 acres of land (generally, some arable land will be left fallow).

Therefore, farmers can only rely on manpower to plow the fields with loose soil first. When it is their turn to use oxen, they rely on animal power to cultivate the land that is slightly more difficult to cultivate.

In the fields, the women were not idle either. They followed their men, wielding hoes and shovels to turn the soil in the fields.

Some young children happily took small shovels and helped clear the fields of straw and weeds. Although they were young, they worked very well, often looking back at their successful work and excitedly showing off to the adults.

At noon, the sun gradually became warmer, shining on people and dispelling the chill of the early morning.

At this time, women came one after another carrying baskets filled with hot corn buns and pickles to the fields to feed the men.

The farmers put down their tools and sat on the edge of the field, eating a simple lunch and chatting about this year's spring plowing.

"The agricultural engineer at the cooperative suggested we plant potatoes and peanuts this time." Tian Dechang took a bite of his corn bun and said vaguely, "Old Chen, what do you think?"

"These potatoes won't sell for much money, right?" Chen Wangquan was stunned.

"It's not a question of money." Tian Dechang swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth. "It's about improving soil fertility. We planted wheat last year and used up a lot of fertilizer. If we plant another crop, I'm afraid the yield won't increase."

"Just pile up more compost." Chen Wangquan bit off half a steamed bun and muttered, "Now that the war is over, we don't need to pile up so much manure in the saltpeter fields anymore. We farmers will need it right away."

"There's only so much manure, not enough for us." Tian Dechang took the bowl of water from his wife and gulped it down. "I heard from the agricultural engineer at the cooperative that all farmland will have to implement the four-field rotation system. They say it can improve our farmers' land utilization rate and increase soil fertility."

"Is that the crop rotation system the agricultural officer from the county told us about during the winter?"

"Yes, that's right!" Tian Dechang said, "It is said that this four-field crop rotation system can increase the yield of our fields and produce more grain. In the future, in our Xinhua territory, this planting model must be implemented wherever conditions permit." The four-field crop rotation system was promoted by British agronomist Charles Townsend and others in the mid-18th century. It was the most important innovation in the European agricultural revolution at that time.

This crop rotation system can significantly improve land use efficiency, increase soil fertility, and greatly promote agricultural output by scientifically arranging the order of crop planting, laying the foundation for the modernization of European agriculture.

In ancient China, although there was no exactly identical four-field rotation system, there were some similar rotation and intercropping techniques.

For example, rice-wheat rotation in southern China.

For example, planting green manure crops such as alfalfa and beans, and then turning them into the soil to increase soil fertility.

For example, intercropping is planting multiple crops on the same piece of land at the same time to improve land use efficiency.

These techniques share similarities with the Four-Field Crop Rotation system, embodying the wisdom and scientific nature of agricultural production. While the names and specific implementation methods differ, the core concepts are similar.

So, during this period, when it comes to farming technology, our Chinese ancestors were always at the forefront of the world.

At this time in Europe, farmers were following a farming custom of periodically leaving their fields idle.

This is undoubtedly a horrific inefficiency, as at any given time up to half of the farmland is not growing any crops.

European farmers had long realized that if they planted grains season after season, their land would become "tired" and their yields would plummet.

However, they did not understand the cause of this phenomenon and could only solve it by leaving the land fallow for a year.

In the early days of agricultural development in Xinhua, because land was almost unlimited in supply and each farmer was allocated 40 mu of arable land, this relatively rough fallow planting model was adopted.

However, with the gradual increase in the immigrant population and the need for large-scale industrial development, this inefficient agricultural production method has become less suitable.

More importantly, if Xinhua wants to promote the "industrial revolution", it must first complete the agricultural revolution. Without a stable and abundant supply of agricultural products, industrial development will be like water without a source and a tree without roots.

So, last year, Xinhua began to try to implement the four-field crop rotation system in the country to improve agricultural production efficiency.

Previously, the two-field rotation system that was more popular in the Ming Dynasty, that is, rotating the planting of beans and other crops, can also maintain soil productivity. However, compared with just switching back and forth between two crops, the four-field rotation can implement the cycle of multiple crops, which will be more effective and can also break the outbreak cycle of diseases and pests.

These pests and diseases tend to have specific targets, so rotating them every year and not growing the same crops in one field for years means you can achieve natural control of pests and diseases without the help of modern pesticides.

As the most successful crop rotation system in history, the four-field crop rotation system became widely popular in the 18th century and led to the agricultural revolution in Britain.

In this rotation system, each field is planted with beans, wheat, root vegetables and barley in that order, repeating the cycle.

It is well known that growing pulses builds soil fertility for several other stages of the cycle, and at the end of a season, even if no part of the crop is harvested for food, the entire crop can be fed to livestock or simply plowed into the ground as green manure.

In the next season after planting beans, by using the accumulated fertility in the soil to plant a crop of wheat, the grain yield can be increased accordingly.

The following year, plant some root vegetables such as radishes, turnips, potatoes, or forage grasses.

Feeding livestock these fodder crops will fatten them up faster, which in turn produces more manure that can be spread back on the fields to maintain their fertility.

Of course, the potatoes planted there are also an indirect food crop that can supplement the shortage of grains.

The fourth and final step in the cycle is to grow barley, which can also be eaten by humans and animals (and is also the main ingredient in brewing beer).

After the barley step, the cycle returns to the cultivation of legumes, restoring soil fertility for cereal crops that require a lot of nitrogen.

Ideally, 30 mu of land under a four-field crop rotation system would be enough to support a group of up to ten people.

At the same time, the increase in farmland output can also correspondingly increase farmers' income and improve their living standards.

"If this four-field crop rotation system is really as good as the agricultural officials say, we might as well try it." Chen Wangquan sat on the edge of the field and pondered for a while, but he couldn't find a solution. He simply stopped thinking about it and stood up. "No matter what, our Xinhua officials won't cheat us, right?"

"Well, that's quite right." Tian Dechang also stood up and said with a smile, "We should do whatever our Xinhua officials say. In the end, we won't be hungry anymore. ... Let's get to work!"

After the meal, the farmers took a short rest and then sat up again and returned to the busy spring plowing.

In the fields, the sounds of hoes hitting the soil, the panting of cows, and the shouts of people are intertwined, forming a vibrant picture of spring plowing.

Although life is still difficult, the farmers' faces are filled with smiles of hope.

They know that as long as they work hard, the land will reward them with the joy of a good harvest.
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(End of this chapter)