Going east along Luoshui, wherever a river flows into it, there must be more than one factory. There is a vehicle yard, a carpentry tool yard, a food machinery yard, a textile machinery yard, a general tool yard, and even a specialized workshop that specializes in manufacturing various weighing tools, such as scales, scales, buckets, etc. The scales made here have government certification marks and can be used as standard measuring tools in various places.
What shocked the officials was the last farm machinery farm.
Different from other factories, the agricultural machinery and tools factory was built on the south bank of Luoshui, at the foot of Lingshan Mountain. All surrounding farmers were relocated, and the factories were spread nearly ten miles along Luoshui River. At the mountain pass, a reservoir was built, leading to multiple canals.
After everyone entered the factory and visited the workshop, they suddenly understood where the products from the parts factory they had seen a few days ago were used. The agricultural machinery and tools here use a lot of products from the previous factory, and almost everything is used.
After getting out of the car, everyone went to the product display room. Everyone was familiar with what these things were doing, and they all gathered around them.
First is the plow. Previously, officials generally believed that a plow was just a thing pulled by oxen to plow the land. When I came here today, I realized that there are so many types of plows. The most important thing is that the plow wall is different. Plowing different soils requires different plow walls. The factory here collected various plows from the Central Plains and the South, and finally produced several models, suitable for paddy fields, dry land, sandy land, and even ones specially used for clearing wasteland.
In addition to the different mold walls, there are also differences in structure.
One is a single plow, pulled by one ox or two oxen, which is the most common. There were also double plows, drawn by two or three oxen.
A double plow is not two single plows added together, but in coordination. Because the front plow breaks the soil, the plow behind can use its force, saving a lot of effort. If necessary, it can even be made into a triple plow. The more plows there are, the less laborious they are to use.
Generally speaking, there are two types of plows commonly used in later generations. One type is called the Chinese type, which is a traditional Chinese plow. The plow body moves after plowing. In other words, if the plowed soil falls into the plowed ditch, it will not form a furrow. There is also a European plow, in which the plowed soil is rolled by the plow body. When the soil is turned over, ridges will form.
If it is a single plow, a Chinese plow should be used. If there are multiple plows, it would be better to use the European type. In later generations, tractors were mostly used to cultivate land, and multiple plows were used, mostly European plows. In this factory, a single plow is a Chinese plow, and a double plow is a European plow.
Everyone gathered around the plow placed outside, looking at these subtle differences and couldn't help but marvel. I’ve seen a lot of plows, but I didn’t expect these differences.
On one side of the plow is the harrow. This tool is relatively simple and is divided into paddy fields and dry lands. However, there is one more thing than the common rake. It is an iron rolling cage. The iron cage will roll when the cow pulls it forward. This type of rake is much easier to use when encountering sandy soil.
Behind the rake is the columbine. Unlike the common columbine, this one has wheels. And not only can it be drilled, but it can also be seeded. Generally, when planting wheat, you don't need a columbine. You can plow a ditch first, and then scatter wheat in the ditch, which is called drill sowing. The traditional columbine is designed for this kind of operation. When planting soybeans, you need to sow them one by one, so traditional columbiners are not suitable.
In the columbine here, the front wheel will rotate, driving a shaft in the box containing the seeds through a chain, and the seeds will be sown through the rotation of the shaft. Because it is one or a few grains at a time, each sowing is separated by a certain distance, so it is called grain sowing.
Several Jinshis were spinning the front wheel there, watching the face being moved by the chain, which was particularly novel. This is the first time I have seen this kind of structure. Now we know that the chains produced in the previous chain factory were originally used here.
It is a great invention to install wheels on agricultural machinery and use these wheels to drive the movement of the machines behind them. With this invention, the types of agricultural machinery suddenly became richer. The wheels in front are called driving wheels.
Many farm tools here only work because of their driving wheels.
After planting, there is field management, and the most important thing is weeding. The tools for weeding here are somewhat similar to the agricultural tools used for plowing the fields in front of us. They are many kinds of shovels. Different shovels are suitable for different planting methods, which are pulled by oxen and are called cultivating and weeding.
Behind are various harvesting machines.
The first thing I saw was the horse-drawn harvester. This type of harvester is equipped with a reciprocating blade. When the horse pulls forward, the blade moves back and forth to cut off the crops and stack them aside. Its power is the driving wheel.
Horse-drawn harvesters were used in developed areas before the invention of the steam engine and the internal combustion engine. When power matured, people invented the combine harvester, and the harvesting part is still in this form. It's just that compared to the power provided by a tractor, the horse-drawn harvester is not as effective. However, there are few people on the land at this time. With this kind of machine, the work intensity during crop harvesting has been greatly reduced.
As soon as you look at the agricultural machinery in front, you will know what its working principle is. This horse-drawn harvester was different. It was too complicated. Everyone looked at it as if they were seeing a divine object. Several people gathered around, looking left and right, but they couldn't figure out how this worked.
Li Huidao: "How many acres of wheat can this machine cut in one day?"
Han Yundao, who was explaining, said: "Generally speaking, you can harvest twenty to thirty acres of land in one day. Whether the horse is strong or not will make a difference in whether the land is harvested well or not."
"Oh my God, twenty acres a day!" Li Hui couldn't help shouting after hearing this. He turned to others and said: "No matter how capable a person is, he can only cut two acres of wheat in a day. An ordinary person can only cut one acre of wheat in a day. This machine can support more than twenty people!"
Everyone gathered around the machine and talked about it. How precious is the time spent harvesting wheat? If you cut quickly and don't delay planting the next crop, you can have two crops a year.
Zheng Gangzhong asked Han Yundao: "This machine is so easy to use, will it sell well?"
Han Yun said: "Now it is only sold in the villages under the Yingtian Division. The sales are very good. You have to order in advance. In other places, several companies have to buy together, otherwise it will be a pity for one family. And the price is expensive, so ordinary farmers buy it. Sorry."
Zheng Gangzhong said: "Expensive? How expensive is it?"
Han Yundao said: "Nowadays, a machine costs 80 guan, which is too expensive for farmers. If a family produces 10 guan, it will be enough to form a community of eight households, which is about the same."
Zheng Gangzhong nodded. How many farmers can afford eighty guan? But if you do ten passes, it will be much easier.
After looking at the horse-drawn harvester and then looking at the machines behind it, everyone was a little uninterested.
The machine at the back is for post-harvest processing. For example, in a threshing machine, one person steps on the machine and another person feeds the threshing machine. If it is rice, the wheat is threshed and the rice is harvested. For example, the winnowing machine removes debris after threshing. For example, there is no need to use rice hullers and rice mills.
In addition, there are forage balers, etc., which are used to collect forage.
After seeing these machines, everyone felt that their horizons were opened, and they realized that there is so much knowledge in farming. If these machines were widely used among the people, one person would not only be able to plant thirty acres, right? What will the world be like at that time?
Zheng Gang was intoxicated for a while, but he just felt that he didn't dare to think about it. If things here were implemented, the whole world would be different.
