The jackfruit tree in front of him was at least a few hundred years old. It was especially tall, and the position of the fruit hanging was also very high. Therefore, when it fell, several of them directly cracked. Of course, this was not considered bad. For the taste of it, cracking was not a problem at all. It was just that it was not easy to transport and store it over long distances. Ang Lee obviously did not intend to do so, so he did not have to worry about the fruit being cracked.
When the fruit farmers in the later generations picked the fruit, they usually worked together with three people. One person climbed up the tree to pick it and then threw it directly down. Two people below pulled a piece of sturdy cloth. When the jackfruit hit the cloth, it would not be too damaged because of the cushioning of the cloth. They could get the intact jackfruit, and the labor intensity was not high. Of course, there was still a certain degree of danger. After all, such a big jackfruit fell from a high altitude. If the people below misjudged and the jackfruit did not fall on the cloth bag but on the head of the people below, it would cause a big accident.
In the later generations, jackfruit smashed people and animals almost every year. Some people were just passing by under the jackfruit tree and were unfortunately killed or injured by the falling jackfruit. In this case, they could only admit that they were unlucky and could not blame others. There were also many cases of chickens, ducks, and other livestock being smashed to death by jackfruit. The probability was even higher than that of people being smashed to death. After all, people knew that jackfruit was very dangerous once it fell, but livestock did not understand this, so there were more livestock that were not smashed to death. In addition, the vehicles in the later generations would also be smashed to death when jackfruit fell. Every year, many vehicles would be smashed to death by jackfruit, thus losing a lot of economic benefits. For this problem, there was no good solution at any time. The only thing people could do was to try their best to avoid staying under the tree during the season when the jackfruit was ripe. They also did not put their vehicles and livestock under the tree. Fruit farmers would also choose to wear helmets that could withstand the impact of the jackfruit. This way, at least their heads would not be injured, and as long as their heads were not injured, the injuries would not be too serious.
The jackfruit tree in front of them was obviously wild and did not seem to have been taken care of. However, not far away, there were more than thirty jackfruit trees. These trees were relatively small and did not grow tall. At first glance, it was obvious that they were man-made fruit trees. They were taken care of quite well. There were only more than thirty trees in this area, but the area they occupied was not small. It was almost an acre of land. After all, the fruit trees were very big, and not many trees could be planted in one acre of land.
For man-made fruit trees, although the fruit trees were not as tall as wild fruit trees, the rate of fruit hanging was very good. After they grew up, they could achieve a high yield and the fruit trees could bear more fruit.
As for planting jackfruit seedlings, there were also many techniques. First, reasonable fertilization was needed. The purpose of fertilizing the young jackfruit trees was to promote the growth of the branches and quickly form the canopy. In addition to applying organic fertilizer as the base fertilizer in winter, the quick-acting fertilizer was applied before the new branches to promote the growth of the branches and to strengthen the branches. After the fruit trees were harvested, the quick-acting fertilizer was applied again with a small amount of quick-acting fertilizer to restore the tree's strength, improve the leaf function, and promote the flower bud differentiation. The quick-acting fertilizer was applied before the germination and inflorescence to promote the growth of the new branches and inflorescence. When the fruits were rapidly growing, the quick-acting fertilizer was applied again to promote the development of the fruits. In this way, the fruit trees would grow bigger and better.
During the seedling stage, the requirement for water was relatively high. More water was needed. Jackfruit required sufficient water, especially during the flowering stage and fruit development stage. If it was dry for a long time, the small fruits would fall off or stagnate. The fruit would be small and deformed, and the meat would be thin and the quality would be poor. Therefore, if it was too dry during the flowering stage and fruit period, irrigation should be done. However, it was easy to flood during the rainy season, so drainage should be done well to prevent the water from rotting the roots. If the roots rotted, the fruit trees might die. In that case, the loss would be great.
Proper pruning and thinning of the fruits was also very important. It was a job that had to be done. Otherwise, it would be no different from a wild fruit tree. If the jackfruit was allowed to grow naturally, it would easily form a natural round crown. Pruning was mainly to cut off the dead branches, weak branches, and dense branches. After picking the fruits, pruning should be done. Pruning was a special pruning. If there were too many fruits, it would be carried out when the fruits grew to the size of an apple. In the first year, each fruit tree would be left with one fruit. In the second year, each fruit tree would be left with four fruits. In the future, each fruit tree would be left with two or three more fruits each year. This was the best cultivation method. If there were too many fruits, it would definitely cause damage to the fruit tree.
Another very important point was that girdling and cutting had to be done. Unlike other fruit trees that bore fruit from thin branches, the jackfruit was attached to thick trunks. This looked a little different, but because it was different, it needed to be girdled and cut to promote flowers. If the jackfruit did not bear fruit after many years of planting, or if the growth of nutrients was too strong and affected the flowering and fruiting, the bark could be peeled or cut on the trunk and main branches to accumulate more nutrients on the upper branches and promote the flowering and fruiting branches. Alternatively, the tree trunk and main branches could be cut every few centimeters to achieve the effect of promoting the flowering and fruiting effect. As long as the bark was pierced and the xylem was not damaged, there was no need to wipe away the fluid that flowed out. There was also another advantage, which was that the area of fruiting could be planned in advance, which was convenient for scientific results. The jackfruit could be evenly borne in different positions of the fruit tree, which looked very harmonious.
These planting techniques were based on the smooth growth of the fruit tree. If the fruit tree encountered diseases and other disasters, it would be very fatal. For example, viral disasters, pests, fruit cracking, and so on were very fatal. If the fruit tree was not treated well, it would be very fatal.
Fruit rot was one of them. In the early stages of the disease, the skin of the jackfruit would produce brown spots. After the expansion, the tissue would soften, and the middle of the spots would gradually become dark brown or black. On the polygonal protrusions of the fruit skin, there would be many black spots. When it was serious, they would connect together. When it was wet, it would release a large number of white to black strips. The bacteria would spread to the fruit stalk, and the fruit would rot and fall off easily. The young fruit would be susceptible to the disease. Because the flesh of the fruit was not ripe, the infected fruit would gradually dry and hang on the tree.
Once the fruit was infected with the bacteria, it would be very troublesome to deal with it. In ancient times, there was no way to deal with it. They could only take precautions in advance to prevent the appearance of the virus. The best way to deal with the virus was to prune more branches and remove the unnecessary branches so that the fruit tree would look sparse and fresh. The ventilation would also be better, and it would not cause a large pile of branches and leaves to be piled up together. That way, it would be easier for the bacteria to breed. In addition, when you encounter diseased branches, you must remove them in time. As long as you remove the diseased branches in time, there was a high possibility that you could control the continuous spread of the disease.
In addition to the disease, the jackfruit cracking was also very troublesome. This was a physiological disease. Generally, the fruit would crack when it was close to maturity. It was a common symptom, mainly caused by the lack of trace elements, especially calcium. Most of the cracks were vertical, and a few of them were horizontal. The cracked flesh was yellowish white at first. Later, the flesh would grow black mold and even rot. During the fruit ripening period, it would be easy to cause the fruit to crack when the temperature and humidity changed drastically.
It was not impossible to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon. For example, during the fruit swelling period, the orchard must be dug deep to loosen the soil, promote the development of the root system, and improve the absorption of the root system. In addition, the orchard must pay attention to the scientific fertilization during the growth period, pay attention to the application of rotten organic fertilizer, and actively use the fertilization formula. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers should be used reasonably, and the application of calcium fertilizer should be increased appropriately. At the same time, the organic fertilizer should be used to prevent the soil from being too dry or too wet, which would affect the absorption of calcium. If the soil lacked calcium, it should be supplemented in time. During the drought, the orchard should be watered in time to prevent the fruit from rapidly expanding due to sudden rainfall. During the rainy season, the field drainage should be paid attention to to prevent the orchard from accumulating water, which would affect the absorption of calcium by the plants. As long as these were done well, the occurrence of the fruit cracking phenomenon could be minimized.
As for the treatment of pests, later generations mainly used pesticides to poison the pests to death. In ancient times, there were no pesticides, so they could only be caught by hand. Some of the larger pests could be caught by hand. However, if the pests were too small or too numerous, there was no good way to deal with them. Once a large area of pests appeared, the only fate was to accept the fate of reduced production.
Because he had just eaten a big meal, Ang Lee was not hungry. He only shot down a few pineapples because he wanted to taste the pineapples in this place. He would not eat as much as he wanted, and his stomach could not hold that much.
"You guys should try it too! It tastes better than Pyu. "
Ang Lee tasted it and said with a satisfied face.
Chen Long and several soldiers also took some pineapples and stuffed them into their mouths to taste the pineapples here. Since they entered Nanzhao, they encountered pineapples from time to time along the way. They ate a lot along the way. Through continuous tasting, they could roughly judge the difference between the pineapples in each area. The general difference was not very big, but there were still subtle differences, which needed to be carefully tasted.
"Assistant Minister Li, the pineapples here are sweeter and more juicy. They are delicious."
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee nodded. The pineapples here were indeed sweeter, probably because they were on an island with more moisture and sunlight. Sufficient moisture could ensure that the pineapples contained more water, and sufficient sunlight could make the pineapples sweeter.
Next to the pineapple field was a durian orchard. There were more than fifty durian trees in this orchard. This kind of fruit looked similar to pineapples. They were both large fruits, but the surface of the durian was rougher. It looked like a hedgehog. As for the flesh, it was quite delicious.
Ang Lee ate some pineapples, and his stomach was even more bloated. Therefore, he had no interest in the ripe durian in front of him. At most, he just glanced at it.
Like pineapples, durian was also a very delicious fruit. It could enhance immunity, stimulate appetite, and prevent cancer and anti-cancer.
In terms of size, pineapples were slightly bigger, but durian seemed to be more lethal. After all, pineapples looked more round, while durian was full of spikes. It would definitely hurt more if it hit the body.
There were many theories about the origin of durian. One of them was that it was introduced from Thakhuai, Malay, and Danaoshi in Myanmar. There were also two legends about it. One was that when the Siamese army attacked Myanmar in 1787 AD, they intended to capture Thakhuai, but they could not conquer it. During the siege, due to transportation difficulties, the army was short of food. The general had to order the soldiers to look for wild fruits to satisfy their hunger. The soldiers found a large and thorny durian fruit in the forest. When they tried to cut it open, it was unexpectedly sweet and delicious. Later, when they returned to Bangkok, many of the soldiers brought the durian seeds back with them and planted them around their houses. It was said that in the Bangkok area, the descendants of the soldiers who had been to Myanmar had durian trees that were 100 to 150 years old growing in the courtyards. Due to two major floods later, these durian trees died. The second was that it was introduced to southern Thailand by merchant ships between Thailand and Myanmar. Later, it was spread from Surat Thani Prefecture to Bangkok and other places.
There was also a legend from the Great Ming Dynasty. It was said that the Ming Dynasty's Three Treasures Eunuch, Zheng He, had led a fleet to Southeast Asia three times. Because they had been out at sea for too long, the crew members were homesick. One day, Zheng He found a strange fruit on the shore and brought a few back to taste it with everyone. After eating it, many of the crew members praised the fruit endlessly, and their homesickness faded for a moment. Someone asked Zheng He, what was the name of this fruit? He casually answered, "Lingering." Durian and lingering had the same pronunciation. Later, people called it durian. When the Chinese in Southeast Asia ate it, they "lingered" on their motherland and left a feeling of homesickness.
Ang Lee didn't care about these origins. These were just the conjectures of the later generations. No one knew what the situation was like back then. The conjectures of the later generations wouldn't worsen the illness. It wasn't beneficial to the body, so it shouldn't be eaten. Durian had a high calorie and sugar content, so it would be very accurate. Perhaps it was just a conjecture and might not really exist.
If one ate durian, one had to pay attention to some taboos. For example, durian couldn't be eaten with wine because wine and durian were both hot and dry substances. If a diabetic ate both together, it would cause blood vessels to be blocked. In serious cases, blood vessels would burst and stroke would occur. It shouldn't be eaten. People with a hot body, sore throat, cough, cold, Yin deficiency, and sensitive trachea would eat durian. Obese people should eat less.
There were dozens of fruit trees on Black Tiger Island. The number wasn't any less than the number of farmlands. However, not all of the fruit trees were of a certain scale. There were some that were purely wild fruit trees that weren't taken care of manually. After all, the number of pirates was very limited. They weren't professional farmers, so it wasn't easy for them to manage a portion of the fruits.
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