Go back to the past to plant trees

After spending two days searching the surrounding area, Feng Cheng identified several suitable locations for seedling cultivation, and then took the collected soil down to the dam.

After several more hours of chafing and chafing, Feng Cheng truly understood the difficulty of making a trip to the county town. It was still spring, and after the snow, it would probably take most of the day to get there.

Upon arriving in the county town, Feng Cheng did not rest but took the bag of soil straight to the forestry bureau's laboratory.

"Dong dong dong."

Feng Cheng knocked on the door, and once the attention of everyone in the lab was drawn, he immediately said with a smile:

"Hello, I am Feng Cheng. I would like to test the pH level of the soil in Bashang."

The person in charge of the laboratory was a middle-aged man in his thirties who also knew Feng Cheng. Upon hearing his words, he casually remarked, "It's probably preparation for seedling cultivation!"

Feng Cheng nodded, "Yes, isn't this about choosing a suitable location?"

"Okay, leave the things here, and come back to pick up the results tomorrow morning."

Testing the soil's acidity or alkalinity is not difficult; although it is the 60s, it does not take too much time if you have the reagents.

"Sorry to trouble you."

"Um, I have quite a lot here, and they are numbered. Could you please write the results after the numbers? Thank you."

"can."

After placing the items in the lab, Feng Cheng turned and left.

Feng Cheng didn't go to find Yu Zhenglai and Engineer Chen. Instead, he went straight out of the Forestry Bureau. He needed to buy a lot of things on this trip. Some of the daily necessities in the camp were almost used up, and Feng Cheng needed to replenish them.

Last time I didn't bring the receipts with me, so I couldn't buy anything. This time I brought both the receipts and the money.

Upon arriving at the county's supply and marketing cooperative, Feng Cheng began a large-scale purchase: tooth powder, toothbrushes, soap, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, kerosene, paper, and ink.

The supply and marketing cooperative was like a large general store, with all sorts of things. Feng Cheng saw the radio displayed in the most conspicuous position and thought about buying one. After all, it was too boring to be alone in Bashang. With a radio, even if he didn't listen to crosstalk or anything, he could at least listen to the weather forecast. However, after hearing that radios required ration coupons, he could only regretfully give up.

These days, you need coupons to buy anything, so even if you have money, you can't spend it!

Feng Cheng wandered around and found that most of the things he wanted to buy required coupons, and he wasn't very interested in the ones that didn't require coupons. In the end, after wandering around, he could only leave the supply and marketing cooperative with a sigh.

Feng Cheng wanted to treat himself to a meal, so he looked around for a restaurant, only to find that he needed food coupons to eat, which left him somewhat bewildered.

He didn't have any food coupons at all. His monthly food rations were provided by the bureau, so they didn't give him any more. He could apply for some food coupons from the bureau when he needed to go out or on business trips, but he didn't have any for daily use.

In the end, Feng Cheng could only return to the Forestry Bureau with a large pile of things, looking disappointed.

"Feng Cheng".

Back at the Forestry Bureau, I ran into Chen Guangji before I even entered.

"Engineer Chen."

When Feng Cheng saw him, he quickly stopped and greeted him.

Chen Guangji asked, "Why are you going down to the dam again?"

Feng Cheng said, "I picked out a few suitable plots of land for seedling cultivation and came down to test the soil's pH level to see which plot was more suitable for seedling cultivation."

"Oh, have the results come out yet?"

"Just sent it over, results will be available tomorrow."

Chen Guangji said, "I forgot to ask you that day, how big do you plan to make your nursery?"

Feng Cheng had been thinking about this for the past few days, so he had made some calculations. "I'm planning to get one acre?"

Chen Guangji asked in surprise, "One mu? Can you manage all that by yourself?"

Feng Cheng said, "This is how I see it: the climate in Bashang is too bad. If I don't get enough seeds, the germination rate will be too low, which is basically a waste of time. But if I get too much, I can't handle it."

"I think I should be able to manage one mu (unit of land area). I might not be able to take good care of it, but with the area, I should be able to get a small or even a small harvest!"

Chen Guangji nodded upon hearing this, agreeing that Feng Cheng's words made sense.

“If it’s one mu, then the bureau’s seeds won’t be enough. The bureau’s nursery also needs seeds. There aren’t many seeds left from last year’s storage. If you want two or three fen, that’s fine, but for one mu, the bureau’s seeds won’t be enough.”

Feng Cheng said, "It's not that it's not enough, it's far from enough. Engineer Chen, this is what I'm thinking: the seeds need to be planted more densely because we're unsure about the germination rate. So I plan to double the density, so that even if the germination rate is low later, we can still guarantee a certain number of seedlings."

"If the germination rate meets the standard, then the thinning can be done later."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangji's face immediately fell: "You're giving the bureau a hard time. If the decision to start seedling cultivation had been made last year, the bureau could have offered to prepare more seeds for you. But now that you're starting seedling cultivation and need so many seeds, it's going to be very difficult for the bureau to get them for you. Other forestry bureaus prepare their seeds according to their seedling cultivation plans for this year, at most a little more. But you need so many at once, it's going to be very difficult to gather them all!"

"Let's solve as many problems as we can!"

Feng Cheng knew that his request was somewhat difficult for others, but he had no choice. If he chose full-sun seedling cultivation, he had to be prepared for a large number of seedlings to die. Therefore, the seed planting density had to be high, otherwise there might not be many seedlings left to transplant.

"I'll ask the director to coordinate something for you. I've also been calling other forestry bureaus these past few days to see if we can allocate some seeds for you."

Chen Guangji knew the importance of seedling cultivation in Saihanba, as it determined whether trees could survive there. Therefore, he would do his best to solve the problem if possible.

"By the way, Engineer Chen, does our bureau have any of those water trucks?"

Feng Cheng inquired about the waterwheel from Chen Guangji. After the nursery was completed, a large amount of water would be needed for irrigation. If Feng Cheng were to carry the water bucket by bucket, it would take an unknown amount of time. However, if there were a waterwheel pulled by horses, it would be equivalent to five or six trips for Feng Cheng, which would greatly speed up the watering process. Moreover, since it was pulled by horses, Feng Cheng could save a lot of effort.

"Yes, we have this. Forest farms all over the country use it when planting trees, so the bureau is prepared to have some. If you want it, just tell the director and apply to the logistics department. It will be sent to you along with the supplies."

"That's a good feeling."

Feng Cheng was very happy to hear that the bureau had this item. He was thinking that if the bureau didn't have it, he would have to ask where he could order such a thing.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. The problems we encountered are likely to be encountered in other forest farms as well. Some places may not be suitable for waterwheels, but they can still be used in many places.

After chatting with Chen Guangji for a while, Feng Cheng left and returned to his dormitory with the things he had bought.

The next day, Feng Cheng went to Yu Zheng and asked him to approve a note. Then he went to the logistics department to apply for a water bucket and asked them to send it over with the next batch of supplies.

After resolving this matter, Feng Cheng went to the laboratory and retrieved the data on the soil.

Looking at the soil pH level displayed on the screen, Feng Cheng recalled the events and then roughly determined the location of the nursery.

After making a rough decision, Feng Cheng went to Yu Zheng again and asked him to send people to the dam as soon as possible so that he could start the work of the nursery.

Yu Zheng said that it would take a few more days to prepare the supplies, seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, but Feng Cheng told him that these could be postponed for a few days, but manpower could be deployed first to cultivate the nursery. Cultivating the nursery from scratch would also take several days.

Yu Zhenglai agreed to Feng Cheng's request, saying that someone would be sent to the dam the day after tomorrow, and would arrive around noon. He told Feng Cheng to wait at home then.

After receiving a definite reply, Feng Cheng left satisfied.