"Hard oak sawdust, there's no oak here, it's specially bought."

Lewis said: "After watering, let the sawdust ferment and degrade naturally, and then add bran and crushed shells to increase the calcium content, which fungi like." ”

In the greenhouse, the culture material is packed in film bags, with some small holes pierced on it, and clusters of oyster mushrooms emerge from it, and workers wearing white coats and pushing a cart pass by to pick the ripe oyster mushrooms.

Han Xuan walked over and tried them, originally thinking that they would grow firmly, but he didn't want to pick them up with a light break.

The surroundings are tightly covered with pure black tarpaulin, which is illuminated by tungsten lamps, and the humid air has a bit of wood corrosion smell, and it is uncomfortable to smell it for a long time, so I walked to the worker's cart and put down the oyster mushrooms, and pointed to the door to indicate that I could go out.

There are many butterflies perched on the roadside, and lavender and alfalfa used to bloom and were often seen in the pastures, but when the flowers withered, they all seemed to have run to the planting area.

Occasionally, you can meet beautiful emperor butterflies with orange patterns on their wings, and as the only migrating butterfly in the world, they can fly thousands of kilometers every year in search of a suitable place to live.

A small thing approached, and Dani thought she had touched a big bee, and screamed and ran away.

Han Xuan also wanted to hide, but was held down by Lewis with a smile and told him that it was a hummingbird.

After taking a closer look, it was indeed different from a bee, its mouth was too long, and its color was orange, passing by Han Xuan's side and turning around, its wings fluttering and buzzing.

Then I visited several mushroom cultivation areas, bisporus mushrooms and oyster mushrooms, which grow in shady conditions in the early stage, and lion's mane mushrooms like sunlight, they grow in wooden shelves and trays, dense and all white, mushroom plants grow quickly, and some can emerge overnight after the spores germinate, and can be picked and sold in recent months.

After Lewis's introduction, Han Xuan knew why he wanted to grow these mushroom foods so much, compared with the long growth period of vegetables, the mushroom maturity period is short, the price is high, and the storage time after drying is long, which is indeed more suitable for the market.

"I found that the climate of the Snow Mountain Ranch is very special, how to say, anyway, it is not the same as what I learned before, for example, these mushrooms grow so well, and the ripening period is shortened by almost half."

Han Xuan pretended not to hear it, and quickly changed the topic: "What is that greenhouse for, why does it grow pine trees, and it will be sold as a Christmas tree in the future?" ”

"What?" Lewis turned his head to look ahead, scratched his head and said, "I'm working on an experiment, but it's failed, Truffle, you know." ”

"I haven't heard of it." Dani spoke.

Han Xuan nodded: "I eat it often, it tastes good." ”

"More than 10 years ago, the French used mycorrhizal technology to artificially cultivate black truffle spores, and these were bought from them."

Lewis said to be regretful: "I originally wanted to artificially breed them for a period of time, and then transplant them into the pine forests of the Flathead Mountains, and buy them for $90,000, maybe they are not suitable for the climate here, and they all died some time ago." ”

Dani, the tigress, was hit by Han Xuan just now, and was half-hugging the boy and pulling his face, and when she heard the words, she said: "No wonder you often stayed here some time ago and didn't go out." ”

Han Xuan broke free in shame, rubbed his face with his hands, and raised his head: "You mean that black truffles can be artificially cultivated?" ”

"Yes, these black truffle mushrooms live in symbiosis with the tree, absorbing the substances needed to grow from the roots of the tree, and then forming a root fungus, which takes several years to grow black truffle."

"France, New Zealand and other countries have mastered key technologies in recent years and are cultivating them in many places, but they don't sell core technologies, they can only buy mushroom blocks from them and then explore them themselves."

After listening to Lewis, Han Xuan's mind suddenly became active, and he asked, "How much can black truffles sell for now." ”

"Want to eat? It's not their season yet, and they won't ...... until winter."

"No, I didn't want to eat." Han Xuan was speechless.

"There are now $500 to $1,000 a kilogram on the market, and most of them are wild, semi-artificially bred ones that have not yet been marketed, and the number is relatively small."

Lewis touched his chin and said, "It should drop in a few years, but they can grow for many years, and as long as the parasitic trees don't die, the black truffles won't disappear, as long as they aren't overpicked." ”

As he spoke, he walked to the greenhouse where the black truffle was grown, and Lewis plucked a lesson like a turnip, pointing to the roots of the tree and motioning for them to look.

Han Xuan and Dani got together, stared at it for a long time, and said in unison: "What do you want us to see?" ”

"Didn't see that?" Lewis looked surprised, as if he had heard something incredulous

"Yes."

Looking again, Dani still used her hands to pick up the dirt from the roots, and nodded in confidence.

"It's because the fungus parasitism failed, so I can't see it." Sticking the pine tree back into its place, Lewis was expressionless.

Han Xuan didn't know that he would still joke, resisted the urge to flatten him, and the corners of his mouth twitched: "The modern version of the king's new clothes...... So what's next? Continue experimenting? ”

"It cost almost $50,000 just to simulate the truffle growth environment, and I have to continue to invest in black truffle mushroom blocks, and if I give up, the money will be deducted from my dividends." Lewis said distressedly, seeing that the temperature on the thermometer was too high, he wanted to open the vent, but stopped halfway through, thinking that it was useless anyway, and what to take care of these pine trunks.

"Try again, try again." Han Xuanquan said that with his own big cheat, he always felt that there was still a possibility of success: "Mr. Grande, the money is calculated from my father, and your dividends will not be deducted." ”

When Dani heard this nickname, she burst out laughing, felt apt and nodded, and then remembered that he was her boss, so she forced her face to choke and cough.

"It's not because of the money ......" was sarcastically said by a child, and the facts could not be denied, Lewis's face turned red.

"It's not entirely about money, in the early days these clumps showed signs of attachment, but then suddenly they died, those companies must have concealed some key steps, we lack professional talent, and the investment is too big to cost."

"It's also possible that it's the weather, it's too hot in the summer, you know, it's hotter than usual in Montana this summer."

Han Xuan pretended to find an excuse to fool: "France is different from us here, so it may not be suitable for it, so let's buy some elsewhere and try it." ”

"It seems to be a little hot...... Then try again? I heard that there is a company in California that is also cultivating, I don't know if it has succeeded, so I will ask my classmates later, you are responsible for telling your father, you can't blame me for failure. ”

Lewis moved, pondered for a while and said: "Also, I agreed to that thing just now, now the workers here are very skilled, and they don't need to teach them by hand like before, which can save a lot of things, but...... Ahem, dividends? ”