Chapter 262 Orchard
Unless they have been dealing with farmland for a long time, most people do not have a strong concept of the size of the field. In fact, reporting a budget is the fastest way, which allows Yaxing to find it accurately and quickly. recommend.
"I have seven hundred taels of silver on hand right now." Xia Mingyue said.
Because the business expanded faster than she imagined, Xia Mingyue also earned more money than expected. At this time, she already had nearly nine hundred taels in hand, but she considered keeping some for emergencies. Xia Mingyue weighed the need and decided to take out seven hundred taels.
“At this time, the selling price of fertile land is about twelve taels per mu, ordinary fields are twelve taels, and those that are worse are seven or eight taels. Madam Xia’s 700 taels of silver, if she buys fertile land, it’s not much. It’s about fifty acres, not too big or too small, and we have to hire someone to take care of it, so the annual income is probably not as high as expected.”
Manager Tang explained, "Moreover, these fifty acres of land are not enough to be a farm by itself. If it is managed together with other farms, it will have to follow other people's rules, which will be more troublesome. If it is rented piecemeal, it will be more troublesome." It is also time-consuming and labor-intensive to give to farmers. "
"Mrs. Xia, are you interested in buying an orchard? I have a new orchard here. Although it is a little remote, it has a large area. Thirty acres, the fruit trees in it are also ready, and they will bear fruit this year.”
“The previous owner of this orchard is in a hurry to sell it, and the price is not high, only seven hundred and fifty taels, Mrs. Xia. If you want, you can lower the price.”
Orchard.
Xia Mingyue lowered her eyes and thought.
Most of the orchards are remote, and the fruits cannot be directly satiated and need to be exchanged for money. Therefore, most of the orchards cannot be rented to tenants and can only be run by themselves and hired to plant them.
The storage time of fruits is limited, the sales price is not stable every year, and the income is naturally unstable, so most business people do not invest in orchards.
Therefore, many orchards are just the property of wealthy families. They provide some fresh fruits for their families to taste, so as not to waste them.
But if she bought an orchard...
Xia Mingyue raised her eyelids and asked carefully, "What kind of fruit trees are there in this orchard?"
"Mainly apple and pear trees, and some grapes. The varieties of apples and pears are average, but they have more fruits. But I have tasted these grapes before. They are big and sweet, and they are really delicious."
Seeing that Xia Mingyue was interested, Manager Tang introduced it in more detail, "The original buildings in this orchard were for the workers and stewards in the orchard to live. They had all the necessary things, including the stewards and stewards. The seller also said that he could give it to him as a living person. "
"Originally, the seller didn't want to sell the orchard. He just wanted to settle down in the capital. He was afraid that he would not have enough money for the work, so he thought of selling it as soon as possible. Some properties are for sale.”
“The land deeds have been inspected by my shopkeeper. They are very complete and there is no dispute. You can definitely buy them with peace of mind. If Madam Xia is interested, we can send a car to take care of them. Lady Xia went over to take a look."
"Yes."
Xia Mingyue was very interested in this orchard, so she made an appointment with Manager Tang to take a look tomorrow.
The orchard is about two hours away from the county seat. I go there after breakfast, take a stroll and come back in the afternoon, so I have plenty of time.
Yaxing's carriage came to Xia Mingyue's home early the next morning to pick up people, accompanied by Manager Tang.
Xia Mingyue and Lu went together.
Along with him is Wu Jin.
Because after a whole winter of fattening, Wu Jin had gained weight again. Xia Mingyue felt that it was not good for his health and needed to go out for a run to have fun.
Wu Jin was as happy as when he went to Xiaohe Village before. He sat obediently in the front of the carriage, opened his mouth wide, and drank the wind.
Guanshi Tang and the coachman also liked the well-behaved, strong and lovable Wu Jin very much.
Especially the coachman, who is extremely rare and always wants to have sex with strangers along the way. However, Wu Jin is friendly to strangers, but not close to them, which makes the coachman even more rare. He even said the words of abduction, "Wujin, how about you follow me home and give you meat and bones to eat every day."
Meat and bones are not rare!
Wu Jin turned his big head away, his face full of disdain.
Steward Tang on the side chuckled and said, "What the hell, do you still want to compete with Madam Xia in craftsmanship?"
Wu Jin gave birth to such a good child, and it can be seen that he has been fed very carefully. , ordinary people can't compare.
"That's true." The driver laughed.
But although he understood in his heart, his eyes were still glued to Wu Jin.
It’s good to take a few more glances.
Xia Mingyue and Lu were sitting in the carriage, occasionally lifting the curtains to take a look at the scenery on both sides and identify the route to the orchard.
The orchard is located in the south and west of Jinqiu County, along the official road, passing through a town and several villages, and arrived smoothly when the sun was almost high in the sky.
The carriage stopped in front of the house built in the orchard, and the person who came out to greet him was the steward of the orchard, Guo Kanglai.
Guo Kanglai is in his thirties, tall and thin, and his clothes are a little white from washing, but he is neatly dressed and looks like a very neat person.
Having already received the letter from Yaxing, Guo Kanglai knew that the person coming was to look at the orchard, and he greeted him warmly, "Well done, Manager Tang, well done, Madam Xia, and well done Madam Lu."
"Hello, Manager Guo." Xia Mingyue said happily, "Can I please introduce Manager Guo to the general situation of the orchard, and also show us around."
"Yes." Guo Kanglai handed over his hand and said He led Xia Mingyue and others into the garden while introducing the details of the orchard.
The orchard totals 126 acres, including 40 acres of apple trees, 30 acres of pear trees, 20 acres of peach trees, and 15 acres of grapes, and the rest has been cultivated into vegetable fields. and fields.
Daily vegetables are grown in the vegetable plot, wheat is grown in the field in autumn, and cobs, soybeans, peanuts and the like are grown in summer for the people in the orchard to eat.
There are springs on the mountains and small rivers on the slopes, and it is very convenient to pour water. Unfortunately, the slopes cannot store too much water. The harvests of grain and vegetable fields are average, but the harvest of fruit trees is not bad.
Now, except for Guo Kanglai, there are six households with a total of 18 people in the orchard, all of whom are deceased.
Xia Mingyue took a general walk around and saw that the land was not barren, various fruit trees were growing quite well, and the branches and other branches were also pruned extremely well. It can be seen that Guo Kanglai and others are usually diligent and take good care of it. in place.
While walking around, through the conversation with Guo Kanglai, it can be seen that Guo Guo is a person who is organized and independent in his work, and can do his best.
The house has a small courtyard for the host family to live and entertain guests. The courtyard and house are clean and tidy, and lunch is eaten in this small courtyard.
Vegetarian fried bean sprouts, spinach vermicelli, stewed chicken nuggets, pan-fried tofu, the staple food is white flour steamed buns, and the soup is millet clear soup.
The cooking skills are limited and the seasonings used are not complete, but the ingredients are fresh and the water used is mountain spring water, so it tastes light and delicious.
Regarding the issue of matching the number of acres and the number of workers, in ancient times the land was much poorer than modern times because there was no chemical fertilizer. Grain and fruit trees were planted very sparsely and the yield was very limited, so the daily workload was also different from now. .
The author has checked the information. For example, if a modern wheat field needs to be cut with a sickle, a strong laborer with fast hands can cut it in about six or seven minutes a day. However, the ancient crops were too sparse and a strong laborer could cut it in one day. Two or three acres, so the current workload cannot be compared with that in ancient times