[noticeboard] A Handbook of Tropical Agriculture

[crosslaced]

[On the noticeboard, someone’s copied out a veritable wall of text. It appears to be someone’s treatise on farming.]

Excerpts from “A HANDBOOK OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE”

COTTON
A wide range of soils is suitable for cotton, which does surprisingly well on a poor soil though heavy clays are not good. If manuring is too liberal, the plants may run to leaf rather than lint production. The following details would be typical of cotton cultivation in a tropical country where it is grown as a rain-fed crop. Spacings vary from 3 ft. by I ft. to somewhat wider. Close spacing promotes earliness, and hence is often useful in avoiding pest damage. Four to five seeds per hole may be planted, not more than 3/4 in. deep; 10 lb. seed per acre should be ample.....

[If one can stand to read through it- it’s rather clumsily in long paragraphs, and lacking any diagrams whatsoever- they’ll find themselves learning about farming various crops, especially the specifications in which to plant and tend to them. These passages are copied directly from a guidebook and more types of plants are added on over time in a steady handwriting. Rice, Sugarcane, coconuts.... if it's grown in a tropical climate, here's some info about them.]

CITRUS FRUITS
Since seedlings cannot be relied on to be as good as the mother tree, either budding or grafting has to be resorted to in any serious attempt to ensure high-yielding trees. Cultivation for all the species is very similar. They should be planted out when 2-3 ft. high at a spacing of not less than 20 ft. by 20 ft., except for limes, which are smaller bushes and can be planted I5 ft. by 15 ft. At these wide spacings catch-crops or cover crops in the early stages are advisable. Citrus trees are very responsive to manuring, and without supplies, especially of nitrogen, the growth may be very poor. The economic life of most citrus trees is about 40 years. The modern tendency is to prune citrus very little.....

[Feel free to add tips, vandalise the margins, or help out with illustrations! The scribe himself, blonde and studiously copying out each passage in-between his routine, can be found at the rock doing just that. ]

Comments

Action

[determinist]

[ Leonard approaches, seeing the wall of text and the scribe himself contributing to the work there. It seems extensive and authoritative, but where did it come from?

Leonard watches for a bit before speaking. ]

Where did you get this?

[crosslaced]

[He finishes his latest sentence before turning his head, his actions unhurried. ]

The information, or this book?

[He snaps the weatherbeaten book shut, and holds it up in his hand for the other man’s consideration. It’s hardcover, cloth-bound, the cover decorated in Victorianesque flourishes. ]

I asked the Storyteller for a book on agriculture. Is something incorrect?

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet doesn't reply directly, but she adds a few notations in her own distinctive purple handwriting- usually little bits of additional advice taken from her experience with gardening in LifeAftr in particular, such as notes on the quality of the soil in the islets and Enso, or observations on the local climate.]

[Anyone passing by regularly might happen to catch her at this...]

[crosslaced]

[They’re bound to pass each other at some point. Laurent comes up to the temple while Muffet’s writing, his horse in tow.]

Good morning, Miss Muffet.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet looks up from her writing and greets him with her usual polite nod and smile.]

Good morning to you, too. How have you been?

[God, it's weird talking to other people who actually have decent manners on this island- but she appreciates the feeling.]

[crosslaced]

Well enough. It was about time I looked into agriculture, and I figured I could save someone a few favours.

[He looks up at the noticeboard with a book in hand- coincidentally also titled “A Handbook of Tropical Agriculture”. ]

Do you want to look at the original manual? I’ll admit, I’m rather a novice in the field.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet smiles warmly, genuinely appreciating his attempts at helping the island. With everything that seems to go wrong around here, it's nice to see people trying to keep it a little more stable.]

Why, thank you- I'd be delighted. The majority of my knowledge comes from much smaller-scale gardening, so I could certainly stand to learn more about how to provide food for such large groups.

I take it you traded for it with the Storyteller?

[crosslaced]

Mm.

[Where else would he get something like this from? Laurent passes the book over, He’s more neutral about it than Muffet- it costs him nothing, and he doesn’t have to talk to people doing this, so he might as well.]

The book measures in…. acres. I’m not sure it’s a scale we can manage at this point.

[While waiting for Muffet to look through it, something occurs to him. He’ll have to slide it subtly into the conversation, though]

What do you think?

[prettypurpleparlor]

[It's been a long few months. Muffet is going to take her reasons for optimism where she can find them, thank you.]

[She opens the book and begins looking through it with methodical efficiency, scanning the pages for anything of particular note while not lingering too long on the details she's already familiar with.]

Hm... not with our current resources, certainly, though it might be possible were we to trade with the Storyteller for more suitable farming equipment. There are creatures among the wildlife that we could potentially tame as beasts of burden, and that could allow us to expand our range considerably if we had a proper plow to attach to them.

[crosslaced]

It requires a feat of coordination that would impress me thoroughly, coming from us. [Someone’s a pessimist.] The beasts will need to be halter-trained- at least we can assume the ones from Nuidan are trainable.

...say, Miss Muffet. It’s been on my mind- back home, now would be the time for winter festivals. [plausible, but also the real issue is the fact that Damen’s birthday is coming up and he needs a party.] It might be a little selfish to indulge in homesickness- but perhaps we could use a communal gathering, after the last few months. Don’t you think so?