allonlinenovel Chapter 237 Methods to Increase Rice Yield
Chapter 237 Methods to Increase Rice Yield
Chapter 237 Methods to Increase Rice Yield
After acquiring the house, Wen Yunhai immediately began renovating and refurbishing it. He built a wall between each of the three rooms, transforming the original three rooms into six.
To make daily life more convenient, Wen Yunhai specially built a separate room as a shower room in the open space between the kitchen and the woodshed. The dirty and smelly dry toilet was also demolished and rebuilt into a washable toilet, with the latrine located behind the toilet.
At Wen Yunhe's suggestion, a high wall was built, completely enclosing the vegetable garden and house.
The front yard and all the rooms are paved with smooth, flat bluestone slabs, giving them a neat and beautiful appearance. In the backyard, in addition to reserving a large area for growing vegetables, livestock sheds and chicken coops have also been newly built.
When Wen Yuxia learned that half of the walls of the house were made of adobe bricks, she asked Nangong Wenrui to send some cement to Wen Yunhai so that he could use the cement to plaster the walls.
The renovation project was completed smoothly in just half a month. Finally, with the help of the workers, Wen Yunhai replaced all the roof tiles.
Looking at the newly renovated house, Wen Yunhai was overjoyed and couldn't wait to go to Fancheng to pick up his wife and daughter. Wen Dashan, who lived in Wen Yunhe's house, also moved here after being persuaded by him.
The day after the housewarming party, Wen Yuxia and Wen Yunhong arrived at the gate of Wen Yunhai's house in Baijia Village. Bei Yi stepped forward and knocked on the door. Wen Yunhai's wife, Guo Lina, opened it.
Guo Lina stayed in Gujia Village, Fancheng after returning from Weixian County. She did not see Wen Yuxia and her siblings, nor did she see Bei Yi and others. "Who are you looking for?"
"Sister-in-law, I am Yuxia, and this is my brother Yunhong," Wen Yuxia said softly, lifting the carriage curtain.
Upon hearing this, Guo Lina greeted them somewhat reservedly, "Greetings, Princess! Greetings, Seventh Brother!" She knew the names Wen Yuxia and Wen Yunhong, but had never met them in person. Now that she had met them, she felt a little nervous.
Guo Lina took a deep breath and said softly, "My father-in-law and husband are working in the experimental field. You should go inside and rest first. I'll go and call them back."
Upon hearing the words "experimental field," Wen Yuxia's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected Wen Yunhai to act so quickly, already having begun work on the experimental field.
Wen Yuxia waved her hand gently and smiled at Guo Lina, saying, "Sister-in-law, where is the experimental field located? I'd like to go and see for myself." Before Guo Lina could answer, Wen Yunhong quickly interjected, "Me too!"
Guo Lina nodded and said, "Okay, I'll have Wenhui take you there." Then, she turned and called out to the north room, "Hui'er, take your aunt and seventh uncle to the experimental field to find your father."
Hearing her call, Wen Wenhui put down her embroidery needle and replied as she walked, "Coming."
Wenhui took Wen Yuxia and the others to the fields, while Guo Lina called out to Wen Wenying. The mother and daughter were busy at home killing chickens and cooking meat.
"It's all Dad's fault for letting Aunt Cui and the others go," Wen Wenying complained as she plucked chicken feathers. Guo Lina said gently, "It's not your dad's fault, it was Mom who let them go."
The Cuiyi mentioned by Wen Wenying was Guo Lina's dowry maid. All the servants brought back from Wei County were sent to Guo Lina's estate, leaving only Cuiyi to serve her.
Some time ago, the village chief of Gujia Village sent someone to act as a matchmaker. Guo Lina agreed, returned Aunt Cui's indenture to her, and prepared a dowry for Aunt Cui so that she could marry the village chief's youngest son in a grand manner.
With no servants available at home for the time being, and having moved to Baijia Village, Wen Yunhai was busy recording the growth of the crops every day and didn't have time to go to Guo Lina's farm to call for help.
These days, Guo Lina has been doing all the housework with her two daughters. Wen Wenying complains every time she does it, but Guo Lina is already immune to it and ignores Wenying's words, washing the vegetable leaves by herself.
When Wen Yuxia and the others arrived at the experimental field, they saw Wen Dashan and his grandson gesturing with their hands, seemingly measuring the height of the rice stalks. Curious, she asked, "Grandpa, what are you two doing?"
Upon hearing this, Wen Dashan and Wen Yunhong exclaimed in unison, "Princess!" Then, turning to look at the ridge of the field, Wen Dashan said with delight, "Yunhong is back too!"
"Grandpa, I've come back to see you," Wen Yunhong grinned, and Wen Yunhai immediately followed up by answering Wen Yuxia's question: "Comparing the height of the seedlings..."
The two experimental fields were planted with rice. After the seedlings sprouted, Wen Yunhai would come to the fields every day to inspect their growth.
Wen Yuxia calmly told Wen Yunhai, searching her memory for the process of rice growth.
"There's no need to compare seedling height. After emergence, seedlings have a growth period of about 15 to 30 days. During this time, you only need to pay attention to water and temperature... The branching growth of lateral buds is crucial to rice yield."
Wen Yunhai quickly wiped the mud off his hands onto his clothes, took out his notebook and carefully wrote down the notes, occasionally asking Wen Yuxia to repeat what he had read earlier.
Wen Dashan was extremely surprised. Wen Yuxia could describe the rice growth process in such detail, even specifying the number of days for each stage of growth.
Wen Yunhong looked at Wen Yuxia with admiration: "Sister, who taught you?" Wen Yuxia smiled faintly and pushed out the non-existent white-bearded old man.
"So it was Master who taught you that."
"Hmm," Wen Yuxia nodded slightly, passing the buck without a care in the world. It was truly wonderful to have an all-powerful master to take the blame. Actually, in her previous life, she had spent some time at a medicinal herb cultivation base due to her profession.
Although growing medicinal herbs and growing crops are not exactly the same, they both fall under the category of planting. When she was looking up books, she had also seen methods of planting crops, including rice.
On the way home, Wen Yunhai continued to humbly ask, "Princess, besides the tillering stage, are there any other ways to increase yield?"
Wen Yuxia said calmly, "Yes," at that moment, the live broadcast she had seen in her previous life flashed through her mind—the entire process of rice hybridization.
Wen Yuxia used simple and easy-to-understand language to explain in detail the basic principles, operating procedures, and yield of hybrid rice, from emasculation and pollination to the use of hybridization bags.
Wen Yunhai's eyes lit up as he listened, and he muttered to himself, "Cut off the unopened flowers on the rice plants, spray them with water, put them in bags, collect the pollen, and pollinate them..."
Wen Dashan only remembered the last sentence: the yield per mu of hybrid rice is two to three times that of the rice they grow. He said excitedly, "Yunhai, we have to try this method, we have to try it."
"Grandpa, eldest cousin, hybrid rice sounds simple, but the operation steps are quite complicated..." After lunch, Wen Yuxia and her siblings prepared to return to the city. Before leaving, Wen Yuxia gave them careful instructions.
"I'm not afraid of any hardship if it can increase rice production," Wen Yunhong said, his face beaming with confidence.