newbobooks Chapter 173 Pest Control
Chapter 173 Pest Control
Xu Wenyan frowned.
This is a slug, which looks like a snail without a shell.
In fact, before Xu Wenyan searched for snail teeth, he didn't hate this kind of creature. But after seeing it, his scalp tingled. Whenever he saw this kind of thing, a picture came to his mind.
Can't stand it at all.
Slugs are widely distributed and prefer to live in moist farmland, mainly feeding on plant leaves and fruits.
Moreover, slugs have a strong reproductive ability. They are hermaphroditic creatures, which means they can give birth to their own children.
According to the "Ben Jing", slugs are salty in taste and cold in nature. They have the functions of clearing away heat and detoxifying, dispelling wind, relieving sore throat, menstrual paralysis, rectal prolapse, etc., and are especially effective for wounds caused by centipede bites.
Xu Wenyan was also wondering how this thing could be used as medicine. There were really a lot of strange things in traditional Chinese medicine.
"Huzi, ugh, hold it farther away, I can't see it at all."
Seeing Xu Wenyan's extremely disgusted expression, Xiaohu quickly threw away the corn leaf.
"Xu Wenyan, what is this?" Luo Sanyuan stepped on it, and the slug must have exploded.
"This is a slug. It's very good at eating crops and there are a lot of them." As an old farmer, Zhou Jianye recognized this notorious pest in the countryside at a glance.
Nowadays, crops grown in rural areas are sprayed with pesticides, so there are basically no insect pests. Even if there are a few extremely pesticide-resistant ones, they will not pose a threat to the harvest.
"Okay, stop looking. It's broad daylight and you can hardly see these pests that eat crops. Wait until night and use lights to lure the insects out."
There are many ways to eliminate pests, including attracting them with lights, introducing natural enemies, fumigating them, and burning them. Almost any method can be used, but it is time-consuming and laborious.
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the Book of Songs recorded: Tian Zu had a fire in the world, which meant throwing pests into the fire and burning them to death.
The "Book of Zhou" in the Western Zhou Dynasty recorded: Fumigating it with wild grass and attacking it with charcoal, poisoning it with wine sprinkled on it with ash, and burning chrysanthemums and sprinkling them with ashes.
Mangcao, also known as Miscanthus sinensis and red osmanthus, is an evergreen shrub or small tree, about 3-10 meters tall. The bark and old branches are gray-brown, and the leaves are single, alternate or clustered.
The branches, leaves, roots and fruits of Mangcao are all poisonous. The symptoms of poisoning include epilepsy, dizziness, blurred vision, rapid breathing, and vomiting in mild cases, and convulsions of the limbs, dilated pupils, and even death in severe cases.
It should be noted that mangcao looks very similar to star anise. Many people eat mangcao as star anise, which leads to poisoning.
The difference between the two lies in the number of horns. Aniseed has 7-9 horns, among which the most famous is the eight-anise. Mangcao has 10-12 horns, with 10 being the most common. Mangcao is short and hooked.
This is the earliest record of using drugs to treat insect pests in China.
I have to say that pesticides are a great invention.
In fact, most farmers in ancient times depended on the weather for their livelihood. If the weather was good, the harvest would be good, but if the weather was bad, there would be droughts, insect plagues, and famine.
"Brother Xu, these bugs are not fools. Why do they jump in when you light the fire? Please, you should see it more clearly." Xiaohu didn't quite understand what Xu Wenyan said, although in his heart whatever Xu Wenyan said was right.
But he still didn't understand the principle.
"Most of these insects are phototactic. They like light, and their instinct will make them subconsciously approach light sources."
"Then Brother Xu, let's catch more mantises. Don't mantises eat insects?" Rong Xiaoliu was delighted. The method he thought of was simply genius.
Xu Wenyan just smiled and said, "Haha, your method is also feasible. It's called the natural enemy method, but now we have no way to catch so many mantises in a short time."
The dumbest and most efficient method now is to organize the villagers to catch insects themselves.
Rong Xiaoliu couldn't help feeling a little disappointed after listening to what Xu Wenyan said. Seeing his decadent look, Xu Wenyan rubbed his head. This kid is almost as tall as Xu Wenyan's chest now. He changes every day. Children grow up so fast.
Xu Wenyan pulled Chen Sanlin and said, "Brother Chen, go ahead. If you find any bugs, tell me."
"it is good."
Still a little worried, Xu Wenyan pulled Chen Sanlin back and said, "Look carefully."
Chen Sanlin held Xu Wenyan's hand and said with a smile, "Don't worry."
The two of them walked along the way, and Xu Wenyan saw many caterpillars, most of which were larvae of various moths.
It looks like there will be a tough battle tonight. This is the consequence of their not turning the soil seriously.
In ancient times when there were no pesticides, pest prevention was more important than pest control.
From the very beginning of planting, you have to burn the land first. This is to remove insect eggs on the surface and to make the land more fertile.
Then when turning the soil, be sure to dig deep to bring out all the insect eggs underground, and then sprinkle wood ash and other substances to prevent insects.
These refugees obviously did not have much experience, so the number of insects in the land naturally increased.
By night, there were more than a thousand people in the group, with almost a dozen people using one torch.
"Everyone should start a fire a little far away from the fields. Others should go and get buckets of water and place them next to the fire. There should be at least five people guarding the fire. If there is even a spark, it must be put out immediately! This concerns our lives and property." Although the words sounded serious, letting the forest burn down is actually a slow way to kill oneself.
Therefore, these preventive measures must be done well and in place.
Afterwards, the refugees formed groups of three or five, holding torches and catching insects in the woods. Since there were no chickens at home, they would try to kill the insects on the spot to prevent future trouble.
Soon, a lot of insects were attracted to the big fire in front, and they were hovering above the fire. From time to time, they would be roasted down by the high temperature and burned in the fire.
The bugs near the fire were stepped on to death by the guards. The insect extermination operation lasted for more than an hour. In the end, the guards only returned after the fire was thoroughly doused.
Now let’s see how the results turn out in the next few days.
If the effect is good, wait for a good harvest. If the effect is average, try again two more times.