Chapter 388: The Real Spring Ploughing (Memories of 5 6 7 8, You Can Skip if You Don’t Like It)

There are two types of manure in the manure pile next to the barn in Shanghe Village.

One is the manure that each household has a quota to hand in, such as the manure collected by Zhang San last year, the manure from the pigsty and barn, and the manure that villagers usually hand in are piled up in a pile, and a layer of soil is covered on top. In addition to covering the smell, it also prevents the fertility from volatilizing.

The other is green manure, which is specially made in the summer when the fields are not too busy to make up for the lack of manure.

The method of green manure is to stack a layer of grass and other plants, a layer of soil, and water it, and then stack a layer of grass and other plants, a layer of soil, and water it, and stack it layer by layer until it is almost done, and then seal it with mud and wipe it to death, so that the plants sealed under the soil will heat up and rot for a long time, and then ferment into green manure, which becomes an indispensable helper for crop growth.

In Shanghe Village, the staff were divided into two groups early this morning, one to dig manure and the other to transport manure.

The things here were pulled into the field little by little, and the carts and wheelbarrows would leave after they were full.

But there was a limit on the number of carts, so many people were assigned to carry manure.

Carrying manure baskets and buckets on shoulders, hands, and together, teammates were very important at this time. If you were assigned to a pig teammate, you would be unlucky, and you would be covered in manure if you were not careful.

Today, several educated youth were covered in manure. Although the manure was not wet, the stench was unbearable, and several people vomited on the spot.

But what can you do if you vomit? People around you pointed at you with disgust, and you had to continue working even if you were scolded by the team leader.

Choosing to carry it with a shoulder pole was better, but many female educated youth gave up after trying it. They simply couldn't carry two baskets of manure, and even if they did, they couldn't walk far.

After these carts, loads, and baskets of manure were transported to the field, they were unloaded into piles.

After all the manure is transported, people will be arranged to spread the manure evenly on the ground with shovels and rakes, and the fertilization work before spring plowing will be completed.

At the end of the first day, the last batch of educated youth who had not worked in the fields for a long time were all dumbfounded.

Everyone was tired, smelly, and sore all over, especially their shoulders were red and swollen. Many people were rubbed through their thick cotton clothes.

After they handed in their tools after work, even Zhang Yaozu, who was always active, hung his head and didn't say a word. Zhang Xiangjun joked on the side.

"Yang Zirong is not the defeated look you have now."

"Haha, have you seen Yang Zirong who smells all over?"

"Hold on, according to today's progress, it will be done in two days. It will be tiring in the future, but it won't be so smelly."

The male educated youth were better, but the new female educated youth couldn't help crying while walking.

The crying of these newcomers made the old educated youths such as Hao Hongmin and Wu Lili very uncomfortable.

This extremely long winter made them all lazy, and they almost lost the qualities and strength they had trained last year. It can be said that they are only a little stronger than Meng Zaihong, Zhang Shulan, and Hou Yuhua.

But these have nothing to do with the Yun sisters and He Mi. The sisters resolutely follow Han Li's orders and do not go out for a day without special circumstances.

He Mi heard that what she had to do today was to pick up manure, so she simply did not go out, but she had a legitimate excuse.

With the warming weather, the improvement of the living environment, and the abundance of food, the flying dragons she raised began to lie down in addition to laying eggs.

Seeing this, He Mi put all the eggs they had laid in the nest. Flying dragon hatching is a big deal, and no matter how careful it is, it is not too much, because it is related to whether Shanghe Village can have an extra income. Now she has an explanation even if anyone comes.

However, He Mi still explained this matter to Village Chief Zhao and Captain Liang, so that the two could see the results with their own eyes, and they would be more willing to take the blame for her, instead of just relying on Han Li's one-sided words.

It was three days after the fertilization was completed, and the village began to plow the land.

A cow, a horse, and two donkeys in the village were all tied with reins and began to pull the plow, and plowed very deep.

Shanghe Village used a single-leg plow. It is said that there was a double-share plow in the past, which was passed down from the farm. It is said that plowing the land is fast and good.

However, the farm used tractors, and the village used livestock. Cows and horses could not pull the double-share plow at all, and later they were abandoned by the village.

After the livestock plowed the land, several men pulled a rake to level the land. The "rake" here is "bà".

The purpose of "rake" is to level the land before sowing and break up the large clods of soil in the soil that has been plowed deeply.

The structure of the rake is also very simple, a rectangular wooden frame with many iron teeth about 20 cm long fixed on both sides, which can crush large clods of soil in the soil 15 cm deep.

Another use of the rake is to use it to conserve moisture in early spring, which has the functions of loosening the soil, retaining water, and increasing soil temperature.

The method of using the "rake" is not difficult. When using it, use an animal or a person to pull it in front, and a person stands on the target and swings his feet back and forth to rake the ground, breaking up the large clods of earth in the plowed land.

However, "shaking the rake" on the rake is a difficult technical job, which is related to whether the animal or person in front can save effort, because not all places need to "shake the rake". If a novice goes up and shakes it stupidly, it will not only be laborious, but also the clods of earth will not be broken well.

It is better to use animals to harrow the land, but animals are now plowing the land.

The villagers feel sorry for the animals, and the other is that if they wait until the animals have finished plowing before harrowing the land, it will affect the water content.

(Here, it refers to the water content in the land.)

The remaining villagers and female educated youth have to follow the harrow and pull the "豱" mò, which is also called "耢" in some places and "cover" in others.

This is a tool used by northern farmers to level the land after plowing the dry land and before sowing.

The production of "豱" is not complicated. First, make a frame with three vertical long wood and four short horizontal wood, and then weave shrub branches with finger thickness and relatively strong toughness in the frame.

Although the purpose of "豱" is also to level the land, it has a different function from "rake".

"Rake" breaks up the big dirt in the soil, while "rakes" the raked soil into finer pieces and "rakes" the land into a flatter place for better sowing.

The method of using "豱" is the same as "拉", which means people stand on "豱" or put big stones on it.

"Plough" and "拉" are both in the north and south, but they are slightly different in shape, but "豱" is a special agricultural tool for dry land in the north.

The work in the field is not over here, because "plough", "拉" and "豱" cannot reach those corners.

And according to the requirements of Captain Liang, during spring plowing, we must try our best to do deep plowing and deep turning, plowing and raking thoroughly, and not miss any plowing or raking. We must ensure that every piece of land is used and no corner can be missed.

Finally, except for the land to be planted with corn, all the ground must be flat, with empty top and solid bottom, so that the bottom moisture of the land can be sufficient and the emergence rate of crops can be higher.

So at this time, someone has to use a shovel and a hoe to dig all the corners, and then use a rake to level the ground, so that the next step of sowing can be carried out.

At that time, there were no mechanized seed drills. Rural areas used the "lóu" (plow), which was called "plow" in some places, "wooden paddle", "jiangzi", "plow plow" and so on.

The plow is divided into single-legged plow and multi-legged plow. Its structure is not complicated. A funnel-shaped plow bin with a large top and a small bottom is placed on two long monkey poles. The upper and rear ends of the plow bin are close to the basket bin. The plow legs are vertically below the handrails. The plow legs are hollow inside.

After the crop seeds are loaded into the plow bin, they flow out from the "bin eye" at the bottom of the plow bin.

In order to make the seeds flow evenly into the hollow plow legs below, a small stick is tied to an egg-sized stone ball at the bin eye of the plow bin. The small stick is inserted into the seeding port of the plow bin and connected to the handrail with a thin rope.

As the plowman shakes back and forth, the stone ball tied to the plow bin also swings with it, making a clicking sound. With the sound of the stone ball hitting the plow bin, the seeds are sown into the ground along the plow legs.

"Plowing" is a delicate job in agricultural production, which requires experienced old hands to operate, commonly known as "holding the plow" and "shaking the plow".

Among the thousands of people in Shanghe Village, there are only four or five uncle-level figures who are the best at plowing.

Before starting to sow, the plowman must first "determine the plow" according to the type of seeds and the current weather conditions.

Because different seeds have different flow rates on sunny and cloudy days, these are related to whether the seeds being sown can be evenly planted.

After starting to sow, the plowman can only rely on his two arms, and both hands must be held flat and the plow must be evenly applied, so that the depth can be controlled.

If you see that the sowing is too deep, just raise your hand slightly, and if you see that the sowing is too shallow, press down slightly.

During this period, the person who holds the plow must not only shake the plow rhythmically to make the seeds fall evenly.

He must also always observe the flow rate of the seeds and whether the plow bin is unobstructed, because impurities in the seeds will inevitably block the plow bin.

Only when the person who holds the plow shakes well can the seedlings in the field grow evenly, and farmers can save a lot of time and effort in the future.

Of course, the best person to pull the plow is still the old cow, which has a steady pace and does not run fast, which is very suitable for this job.

Unfortunately, large livestock such as cows are very precious. Some villages don’t even have one, or there are cows but they are too busy.

So the plow becomes a person, and the leader in the middle is called the leader of the plow. It is also very important. He must not only be strong but also have a symmetrical step and walk in a straight line. Only in this way can the straightness of the plow ridge and the uniformity of the ridge distance be guaranteed.

However, the plow is now made of wood, which is very clumsy and heavy. One person cannot pull it at all. At this time, at least two people are needed to help pull the plow with ropes on both sides. Some people joke that the people pulling the plow on both sides are the helpers.

Although the plow is a tool passed down from the Western Han Dynasty, it has been gradually modified through dynasties to become what it is now.

However, until the production brigade was disbanded, the villagers still used the plow for a long time, and then the mechanized seed drill was introduced.

Especially when the production brigade was just disbanded and things were distributed, if a family could draw lots to get the plow, then their family would definitely become the hot cakes in the village. During the sowing season, even if there was no old ox at home, many people would take the initiative to come to their door to help them pull the plow.

This is done so that they can borrow the plow first to sow seeds in their own fields. Those who help are given priority, and those who don't can only wait in the back. If someone asks late, they can only wait until the people in front of them have finished sowing before it is their turn. This process may take a day or several days. Sometimes it is even worse if it rains.

When sowing seeds in this Gada, there is also a tool similar to the "plow", which is the gourd.

The total length of this gourd is about 1.5 meters from front to back, and it can be tied with a rope and operated across the shoulder.

It is often used to sow small plots of land or sow small seeds, such as millet, broomcorn millet, and sorghum.

The whole gourd consists of four parts: 1. gourd head, 2. gourd crop, hollow wooden conduit, 3. gourd chips, tied with thin tree sticks, which can control the amount of seeds flowing out of the conduit, and 4. gourd grate, tied with broomcorn millet, which plays a role in delaying the seeds from falling to the ground and spreading the sowing area. There is also a wooden stick that knocks the gourd crop to promote the flow of seeds to the ground.

When using the gourd for sowing, there must be a plow in front. The ground is plowed open, and the person carrying the gourd will walk along the furrow and knock the gourd crop. The seeds in the gourd will flow to the hollow rod, and the seeds in the hollow rod will flow to the gourd chips, and then evenly sprinkled into the furrow through the gap of the grate.

Those who can use the gourd are also veterans, because they can adjust the gourd and control the sowing amount skillfully.

Sowing is not over here. Following closely behind the "plow" or gourd are the dùn (dùn) zi, the beating (pressing) roller, the wheel dùn zi, and the bo. se.

The dùn looks similar to a weightlifting barbell, but it is connected in the middle by wood and has specially made round stones with holes on both sides.

There are single dùn zi, dùn zi in a group of two, and dùn zi in a group of three. How to use it depends on human or animal power.

No matter how it is combined, whether it is pulled by people or animals, each dùn must roll along the furrow.

The soil density of the furrows rolled by the dùn zi is enhanced, which can reduce water evaporation, retain water, and protect the soil moisture, so that it is easy for seeds to take root and germinate in the soil and increase the germination rate of seeds.

Otherwise, the plowed and ploughed ground will easily evaporate and the humidity will drop. The seeds planted may die of thirst before they germinate, so the last ridge pulling becomes very important.

There is one last step here, which is to use a rake or a scraper to gently pick up some soil from the ground to form a ridge.

In this way, the whole piece of land is divided into small ridges, which is conducive to future irrigation.

However, the educated youth in Shanghe Village can only do the work of pulling rakes, pulling hoes, pulling hoes, and pulling ridges. As for other jobs, the villagers are not confident to leave them.

Especially the two jobs of shaking the hoe and planting gourds, the educated youth are not allowed to touch them.

There is also the last ridge, which only Sun Yong and Li Hongxia, two old educated youths, can do.

But this does not mean that they can rest. Corn and beets have not been planted yet.

The village head and the team leader plan to leave beets to the end. They asked the old masters in the village to combine the beet planting instructions given above, and everyone discussed how to plant them together.

As for corn, there is no need to plow the land. After the groups are divided, the person in front will use a shovel and a hoe to dig a small hole in the ground.

The person behind will throw two or three seeds into each kang, and finally push the dug soil back with his feet to fill the small earth hole.

However, just when the educated youth were going to plant corn tomorrow, Han Li rushed back from the mountain when he was about to get off work that afternoon.

Well, Han Li came back at this time on purpose. When he fought with the blind bear, his clothes were all covered with mud. He had not washed for the past two days and looked very embarrassed.

All he brought were various seasonal medicinal herbs, and he didn't even bring a chicken feather.

The only extra thing was the thick grape vine that Han Li picked when he went into the mountains last time.

Han Li's current somewhat embarrassed appearance, anyone who saw it could only say that he suffered for the villagers to pick herbs.

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