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 the 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. 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 more cotton clothes on the market than before, and the price was also reduced. It was obvious that the cotton raw material had a bumper harvest, and the cotton harvest season 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, by 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 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, or 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 cultural 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 pieces of 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 takes advantage of the right time and place to think of the time to plant mushrooms.

The strains are also easy to find. Before, 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 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, 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 the 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?

" It is the fruits and vegetables that have this output. They also 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 still very full, as long as I eat a few, my stomach will not be hungry at all." Those boiled potatoes with a little salt are only average, but the potatoes are soft. The taste is very suitable for people with bad teeth, and the first time I eat this kind of food, I am bragging about my experience with others, which is natural to say that there is nothing in the sky. In addition to this, there is another piece of 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 She made a mistake and was dealt with by the master, but after the corn and potatoes were harvested recently, Wei Wei remembered that there were still a group of people locked up by her, so she ordered that there is 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, 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 some people asked them later, they wouldn't say how the yield of sweet potatoes was, just by listening to their tone, you could tell that these people were saying that the yield of sweet potatoes was even higher than that of potatoes. high.

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 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 be more than potatoes.

Some people even joked: "If it is as long as a potato, with the size of a sweet potato, the output will probably have to be doubled."

Doubled? 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 it away.

It's impossible, it's impossible, it's more likely, but double, it's impossible... right?

Curiosity is something everyone has, and 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, plus these slaves seem to have made an appointment and 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 have kept her mouth shut now, gossip is gossip, and the master's business will not go out at all. It was revealed that if other people want to talk, it depends on her willingness, and her status among servants is high enough now.

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 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

sweet potato harvest season is in August, and it is only ten or twenty days away from now. After witnessing the result, why should you be so impatient, this should have nothing to do with the servants. It was a little surprising that they were suddenly so curious to know the answer.

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. ."

So some people are trying to hang up their appetites and don't give answers, so they've 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, it will be more interesting to see it with your own eyes."

Penny looked at her and said: Knowing what his hostess was thinking, he also smiled and said, "Yes, it will be very interesting then, does Madam want to take a look?" He 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 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: "Indeed, we missed two good shows." Then he smiled and said another thing: "Last time we harvested corn. At the time, Patton told me that the farm officer and complained about too much work recently, and those people couldn't straighten their waists. They asked me if I could give them more days off. Give them a holiday." "Is that?" "I'm about to." Felix leaned back in his chair and smiled, "But I think they'll 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 is all fertile and high-grade fields, and they are carefully tended by serfs, and there is no shortage of water and fertilizer. Wei Wei had seen the sweet potato seedlings in the field, and by the appearance of the leaves and stems, she knew that the output of sweet potatoes would have to rise a lot this year. 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.

That is to say, harvesting sweet potatoes once are equivalent to keeping agricultural officials busy for another wheat harvest, or a bumper wheat harvest.

Wei Wei covered her mouth and smiled, "I think they'll cry when the time comes."

"That's impossible." Felix also smiled: "They will only get busier and busier in the future, don't get used to it first. , how can I complete my work well in the future."

Seeing his bad idea, Wei Wei couldn't help but start to sympathize with those people: "You better give them more manpower, or you will get tired and sick. , but no one is doing anything."

"Come on, aren't we already preparing for this year's civil service exam, we should be able to recruit more people." But

because last year's exam was in October, this year's time is also It was set on the same day, that is to say, when the sweet potatoes were harvested, there were only so many farm officers.

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

Whether it is from other departments, factories, or even In the castle, many people can write and calculate, and the required labour can also be temporarily dispatched to the slaves, which will not tire the agricultural officers and the newbies they bring.

Wei Wei thought of something else.

She asked: "Have many people come to you recently to buy corn and potatoes?"

Felix: "The nobles in the capital have written letters to buy them, and some merchants have come to ask about corn, but there are very few people who want to buy potatoes." The

main reason is that corn used to grow on corn stalks and travel to and from the castle. Everyone can see that they have an impression of this kind of crop. Although they were surprised after knowing the yield, it was not a big surprise. But potatoes are different. They grow in the soil, and there are not many plants. It is a short piece and can't see the appearance of the fruit. The merchants are not impressed by it, and they have not seen the harvest scene, so most people are sceptical about the yield of potatoes - if it is similar to corn, they probably believe it, but the difference is three times. This number is too scary. No matter how you think about it, it is difficult for people to believe that it is true.

Therefore, cautious businessmen are all interested in corn, although some people ask 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 them either. Naturally, I didn't let them see."

To preserve the seed potatoes, the harvested potatoes are all It is placed in the cellar and closed, and the cellar specially prepared for potatoes is like a well, with only a large hole in the well, which is too troublesome to get in and out, and it is easy to affect the potatoes stored in it, and what people want to know is the potato yield per mu, so naturally, They will believe it if they have to show all the potatoes. That's 190,000 jin. Since Felix doesn't plan to sell potatoes this year, he naturally won't let people go into the trouble of using them. It takes a lot of effort to move it out for people to see.

Wei Wei nodded: "Indeed, although the potatoes are harvested a lot, they are still a little less used for seeding. They really shouldn't be sold this year. What about the king's request? What do you want to give?"

"That is to give, but I have already replied that I can't give you many potatoes, but you can consider selling the other two for a little more, and the price has been reported to them. , at that time, you can bring back everything you want at one time, so as not to run back and forth.

At present, the reply from the royal capital has not yet arrived, but I think no one will refuse. Although the price he gave is high for the servants, it is 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. It's worth it,

Felix didn't give them a special "aristocratic price", but a uniform selling price. Ordinary commoners can afford it, and those nobles can't afford it.

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

Wei Wei: "If that's the case, why don't you let them come over earlier and see the harvest of sweet potatoes with your own eyes? After all, you don't give out too much, and they may be worried about the yield of sweet potatoes. They think the reason why they grow well is that Because of the careful care, if the large-scale planting may not be so good, it is better to let them see it with their own eyes and feel more at ease."

Felix thought for a while and said: "Then also take those businessmen who are interested in buying them. Let's call and have a look."