In the scorching sun, in the wheat field on the east side of the lake on the east side of Wincheston Manor, the ears of wheat were blown by the breeze and the emerald green waves were rolling, and in a newly built canal beside the wheat field, the clear water from the lake rushed to the vast expanse of verdant green, and the clear water extended to the low hills at the end of the wheat field.

At the end of the canal, under a gentle hill, in an apple grove, a large crowd surrounded a man in a linen shirt and shabby cowhide boots, and saw the man holding a special pair of scissors, while cutting off the withered, thin branches and small fruit seedlings of the apple tree, while loudly introducing to the crowd of onlookers, "...... Not only apple trees, but all fruit trees need to be pruned and selected, and only by subtracting the stumps and fruits can the remaining fruit get sufficient nutrients. ”

A young clerk of the cantonment department with a quill pen recorded the man's words one by one, and then he paused and asked cautiously: "Lord Earl, you have cut off nearly a third of the branches and seedlings of this fruit tree, so will this fruit tree not harvest a lot less fruit?" How is it possible to increase production in this way? ”

Art stopped what he was doing, handed the scissors to Lynn, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Garrison Affairs, who was accompanying him, turned his head to look at the young government clerk from the Wooden Castle Academy, and then looked at the people around him who were muttering in a low voice, and replied with a smile: "Young man, you asked this question very well. I think everyone has this question. ”

The people around nodded their heads.

Art pointed to an apple tree next to him that had not yet been pruned and fruited, and said to Lynn beside him: "Lynn, you are the deputy minister of tuning, with your experience, how many apples can this tree bear according to the situation in previous years?"

Lynn glanced at the fruit seedlings on the fruit tree a few times, and estimated for a moment, "Based on the fruit yield of previous years, this fruit tree can produce one hundred and thirty to one hundred and sixty apples, and it is estimated that it can produce thirty or forty pounds. ”

Art nodded, today's apples are very small, and it is estimated that this is the output.

"You are all village chiefs or good farmers in villages all over Wales, and you know the yield of apple trees."

"Mark this apple tree with the branches I have pruned with the tree next to it without any pruning, and with the same watering and fertilization, the fruit that I have pruned will not only be bigger, but certainly sweeter than the one next to it. As for the production, although it will not necessarily increase much compared to the next one, it will never be less than him. ”

"The apples should grow in two months, and when you go back, you can prune a fruit tree according to the method I taught, and wait for the autumn harvest season to witness what I have said."

The large crowd around them also said with great interest that they would definitely give it a try when they went back.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet. The technique of pruning is simple, and everyone must have learned it. Next, I'll teach you grafting......"

At the gate of Wincheston Manor, a procession of four or five middle-aged men who looked like merchants and five or six caravan guards stopped here.

Ron, the guard officer who was training the Earlguard's guard in the manor, heard the guard's briefing and rushed to the gate.

"Lord Salter, my lord went to the apple orchard of the manor today to teach agricultural techniques to the village magistrates and farmers who came from all over the country, do you need me to send someone to report it?" Ron still has respect for Sarthe, the cash cow of Wales and the former head of the European Continental Comptoir.

"Sir Ron, just call me by my name." Salter usually regarded the guard officer beside Art as if he were superior, and now that he has become a guilty body, he is naturally even more respectful.

"How dare I disturb the Earl like this, since my lord is busy, then ask Sir Ron to greet my lord for me, and tell my lord that I will live up to my lordship's Ronn and atone for my sins as soon as possible."

"In addition, thanks to the kindness of my lordship, my son was transferred to serve in the army. I will ask Sir Ron to take care of him in the future. With that, Salter bowed deeply to Ron, who was much younger than himself.

Ron leaned slightly away from Salter's heavy salute and replied calmly, "Lord Salter, please rest assured that you will go south, we are all waiting for you to come back." ”

Salter stood up and thanked him.

Ron raised his hand and called out to his soldiers, motioning for them to hand over a linen bag to Salt.

"Lord Salter, my lord knew that you would pass by Wincheston Manor, so he ordered this bag to be given to you as a parting gift."

Salter stretched out his hands and solemnly took the cloth bag from the guard's hand, thanked Art for his kindness, and then turned to lead several officials of the Ministry of Commerce, who had also been demoted, towards the southbound trade road.

In the caravan escort at the end of the procession, a pair of eyes glanced back at Ron, who was watching at the gate of the manor, and the two met their eyes, each understanding......

“...... My lord, Lord Salter went south at noon, and had been bidding you farewell, but he had learned that you were teaching in the orchard, so he did not disturb you, and asked me to say hello to him and leave. Ron placed a basin of water on the wooden shelf in Art's office, and casually reported on Salter's visit at noon today.

After a long day in the field, Art was also covered in sweat, he picked up cold water and washed his face, took the towel handed over by Ron, and asked, "Did I prepare a parting gift for him?"

"Sent. Lord Salter has asked me to convey to you that he will atone for his sins as soon as possible, and live up to your kindness. ”

Art wiped his face and sighed lightly, "Hopefully, they are all old fellows who have been fighting with me for many years, and I really hope that it will start and finish well." ”

"Ron, I'm going to head east tomorrow, inspecting the farmland reclamation, agricultural production, and training of peasants and soldiers in various villages and forts along the way, and the final destination of this trip is Fort Andermatt, you let the guards prepare."

"Also, I've ordered Hawkeye, who is lurking in Jonah Province, to gather the latest information to Fort Andermatt, and I want to find out if Balwyn is acting out of the way in the East."

After that, Art was already sitting at the official desk, and began to revise and revise a book called "Essentials of Agricultural Technology......

Ron exited the office and went to a room in the manor for the guards to live, and took out a "codebook" for the transmission of secret letters from the bag he carried with him, which was compiled by Art himself, which copied the letters of Latin, French, and the local lingua franca of Burgundy, and each letter had a corresponding special number (Arabic numerals) under it, and there were more complex writing skills used in conjunction with the codebook.

The secret order "Within ten days, all information will be assembled in Andermatt" was compared to the "code book", and a long series of numbers and symbols were written on thin strips of paper.

Blowing dry the ink and putting away the codebook, Ron called in a loud voice a guard soldier in charge of flying pigeons, rolled up the note and handed it to the soldier, commanding, "Flying pigeons to the city of Jonah."

The soldier took the note and ran towards the loft...... 166 net

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Chapter 528: Farming