Gu Heju and the other four people stood nearby and looked at it seriously, but their faces were full of confusion.
Isn't this exactly the same as before?
In their opinion, Xu Chen's busy reorganization was a completely useless effort. It was still two bent pieces of wood tied together, with almost no change in shape.
Xu Chen didn't explain either, wiped the sweat from his forehead, dropped the stone ax and said: "Move in and try again!"
"Okay!"
The four personal tool men quickly started working together to lift the wooden plow into the field. Before Xu Chen could give instructions, Gu Heju quickly put ropes on themselves and transformed into wild bulls to prepare for plowing the field.
Xu Chen was very pleased. Although both of them looked not very smart, they still had good initiative in working. Many things only needed to be reminded once before they were remembered.
Although the appearance of the processed wooden plow does not seem to have any change, there have been considerable internal changes.
This time, the plow arm is more inclined downward, and the traction force will be more downward when pulling, which will form a downward pressure on the plow head, making it easier for the plow tip to enter the soil.
The plowshare is tilted in a larger arc, and the plow tip protrudes slightly downward, so that the plowshare can turn over the soil more easily without exerting too much force on the plow arm.
Xu Chen held the wooden plow and started the second experiment, plowing back and forth for dozens of meters.
The effect this time is indeed much better than the first time. As long as you hold the plow handle steady and press the plow arm, the wooden plow will be easier to eat into the soil and the floating feeling will be much smaller, unless it encounters big rocks or thorns.
Tree roots can easily plow a mud ditch about ten centimeters deep.
Xu Chen felt much more relaxed this time, but Gu and Ju were obviously feeling more strenuous.
After several rounds of plowing, Xu Chen stopped to look at the quality of the plowing. At the same time, he carefully checked the state of the wooden plow. He found that it was still far from the state he wanted to achieve, but it was still acceptable.
At least the test after the second improvement has almost the same quality as a wooden hoe and a stone hoe, but in terms of speed, it can throw the hoe dozens of miles.
It took only ten minutes to plow dozens of meters in just a few trips. It would have taken at least an hour with a hoe.
The plow was a very important tool revolution after mankind entered the agricultural civilization. Its appearance changed the situation of primitive slash-and-burn farming and began to develop in the direction of intensive farming. Grain production also began to increase significantly.
Because plows can plow and destroy grass roots and pests buried deep in farmland, and kill them by exposure to cold winter or hot sun, greatly reducing the survival of weeds, diseases and insect pests, and ensuring that the fertility of farmland can fully support the growth of crops.
Human beings cannot determine the soil and climate for cultivation, but humans can continue to develop and improve the quality of grain and cultivation.
Moreover, the emergence of new production tools will inevitably speed up the quality and speed of farming.
Although this wooden plow was far from what Xu Chen wanted, it had begun to show its power.
"Let's see if it can dig faster than a hoe!" Xu Chen asked Gu Heju with a smile.
"Yes!"
Gu and Ju nodded vigorously together, and at the same time they also suddenly understood.
It turns out that Xu Chen spent several days working hard to come up with this weird thing that was used to dig fields.
Although they had no idea what had happened to Xu Chen's seemingly useless actions just now, the quality of the plowing in front of them was indeed much better than the first time, but it was more laborious to pull it.
"Switch to someone else to pull the plow. Come and try the plow."
As the wise man and innovative leader of the tribe, Xu Chen felt that after completing his missionary work and solving doubts, he could start to be lazy again.
After the replacement, Xu Chen followed him all the way and gave detailed instructions on how to hold the plow handle, how to press the plow arm, how to prevent the plow from moving erratically, and how to shake the wooden plow to make the plow move smoothly when encountering too much resistance.
Avoid obstacles such as rocks, tree roots, etc.
Although he only had two brief farming experiences, he had never eaten pork and had seen pigs run away. With his previous knowledge and some short-term accumulated experience, he still had some insights.
Under his guidance and teaching, I plowed back and forth several times, and gradually began to master some skills. Soon the quality of plowing also improved a lot.
A few people in Xu Chen were busy here, and more people were busy cleaning debris and digging drainage ditches in the newly reclaimed farmland. They watched them make a strange thing that ran back and forth in the field for a while, and then next to the field.
They were gnawing, gnawing, gnawing, chopping, and they didn't know what they were doing. During the break, some people came over to take a look out of curiosity, and they suddenly started shouting as if they had discovered a new world.
The magic of this thing completely exceeded their imagination.
Three people can dig out the soil quickly and easily, which is faster than a dozen people using hoes together.
So amidst the exclamations, more and more tribesmen gathered to watch, and even Mu Ba and Amu were attracted.
Xu Chen naturally lost no time in explaining to them the benefits of doing this, that is, they can plow out the weeds, roots and pests in the soil. He also used a wooden hoe to break up the plowed soil and remove the grass roots and stones inside.
All cleaned up easily.
"Sigh!"
Seeing Xu Chen's demonstration, everyone understood the benefits.
Wild fire, in spring.
Although these primitive savages do not understand the beauty and romance of poetry, they have the simplest and most unsophisticated life experience and the most basic understanding of the growth and reproduction of animals and plants.
Weeds not only reproduce through seeds, but grass roots are the fundamental reason for their lushness.
Last year, when we started farming for the first time, everyone saw how crazy the weeds were. Even though the whole family mobilized to weed several times, in the end the weeds in the farmland still grew in alarming proportions, occupying a lot of space.
There are many weeds in farmland because of grass roots.
If a large number of grass roots can be cleared away, there will be much fewer weeds in the farmland next year, and the oats and wild beans planted will grow more and better.
Therefore, mother and mother excitedly pulled Xu Chen and made gurgling gestures, saying that this thing is very useful and they must make more of it.
Xu Chen naturally knew that the plow was a good thing, but unfortunately it was too late to prepare this year, and he had no experience and not much time. It was too late now, so he could only do his best.
There is still half a month before the spring sowing. In the past two days, some people have been mobilized to go up the mountain to find suitable bent wood. It is no problem to make a few in a hurry. As for large-scale use, it will definitely have to wait until next year.
In addition, if the fields plowed by plows are not treated properly, a large number of grass roots will still not be removed, and some more suitable rakes will need to be made.
So Xu Chen abandoned the wooden plow and asked Gu to continue plowing the fields with a few men who were eager to try. He arranged for Li to take a few men up the mountain to continue looking for suitable bent wood. He went home and directed the two Uzbek teenagers and the tool man to continue plowing the fields.
Use the leftover wood to make a wooden plow.
With the experience accumulated from the first barely functional wooden plow, the rest can be made by just following the pattern.
I won’t go into details. Anyway, it’s just freshly cut wet wood. As long as it can be used, it can be used as firewood after using it this season. Next year, you can find suitable wood reserves in advance to be dried and used for later use. Do it slowly in autumn and winter, and wait until winter.
There should be more than enough in the spring.
At present, the division of labor is clear. Gu is responsible for teaching people to plow the fields, the leader is responsible for cutting suitable wood, the tool man is responsible for making the tools according to his instructions, and Xu Chen's main task is to complete another tool, that is, the rake.
The structure of a rake is relatively simpler than that of a plow, so it is faster to make.
Depending on the size and function, rakes come in different shapes and sizes.
The simplest one is naturally a nail rake, the one with a long handle. It is similar to the nine-tooth nail rake of Marshal Tianpeng. It is convenient and quick for digging soil and grass, but it is only suitable for small-scale work. A rake like raking fields requires a large tool.
Live well.
At present, the area of several acres of land is not impossible to use a small rake, but it can only rely on people to pile up, so it can only be supplemented. What Xu Chen wants to do is a large agricultural tool rake.
Either don't do it, or do it all at once.
It's just that the current processing tools are stretching, making him feel a little weak, like an energetic man who spent enough money to visit a brothel, only to find that they were all clients, and the ladies all came to the aunt in a group, not accepting any clients.
There is enough wood for building a house now. Choose two pieces of suitable wood with calf thickness, cut them into two long pieces of one and a half meters long, then cut two short pieces of two feet long, and then cut out rough notched tenons.
Splice them together, and then use hemp rope to tie the tenon joints tightly, so as to obtain a rectangular wooden frame.
Use an ax to cut vertical grooves twenty centimeters apart on the two long pieces of the wooden frame. Cut a stick as thick as an egg into short sticks half a foot long. After sharpening one end, cut them one by one.
Tie with hemp rope in the groove of the wooden frame.
After tying it up, what you get is a large wooden rake with wooden teeth on the front and back, tie it with a long rope, and put on the animal skin shoulder straps, and you have a large, simple and rough field rake.
Let two teenagers carry it to the experimental field.
Half a day passed, and under Gu's guidance, several men had plowed nearly two acres of land.
The area is not small, but the effect is a bit disastrous.
First, the wooden plow still has defects. It does not have a sharp plowshare, so the soil plowed out is not neat, and the depth is also inconsistent. There are even two furrows separated by more than a foot.
This is not so much plowing as it is digging ditches.
But Xu Chen couldn't ask for more. The sown area was too large, and he couldn't do everything himself, nor could he ask these uncivilized barbarians to cultivate the land seriously and meticulously.
In fact, he was very satisfied if he could learn to use this thing.
After such rough plowing, at least a lot of grassroot pests in the field will be eliminated, and the pressure of weeding will be much less after spring.