CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 157 EXPERIMENTAL BASE

Looking at the thriving experimental base being built at an observable speed, Anton Perutz felt quite satisfied internally.

Anton Perutz and his entourage were regarded by the residents of Second Town as a group of strange strangers.

After all, compared to the immigrants, Anton Perutz and his entourage were all dressed in suits, and were accompanied by personnel sent by the East Africa colonial government, clearly figures of significance.

Second Town was also notified to assist with the work of Anton Perutz and others, contributing both manpower and land to the construction of the East Africa Tropical Agriculture Research Institute’s experimental base.

In fact, when Anton Perutz first arrived at Second Town, he was initially quite startled, suspecting whether this place was a branch of the Prussian Kingdom overseas since he passed through the downtown area of First Town.

The uniform Prussian uniforms left every researcher in Anton Perutz’s team quite shocked.

Fortunately, the accompanying personnel from the East Africa colonial government served as guides, resolving many of Anton Perutz and others’ doubts.

Nonetheless, Anton Perutz and his research team were still taken aback by Ernst’s extravagant actions in the East African colony.

Just the clothing for hundreds of thousands of people must have cost a fortune, which would be astronomical to ordinary people of that era.

This was indeed the case. Besides the early acquisition of a large batch of second-hand Prussian uniforms from the Prussian government, Ernst later acquired a factory to produce "monkey version" Prussian uniforms for supply to East Africa.

After all, the Prussian army only comprised tens of thousands, not enough second-hand uniforms for Ernst to obtain freely. Moreover, Ernst was not close to the Austrian Royal Family at the time, and thus did not consider acquiring second-hand items from Austria-Hungary to save costs, not to mention that the Austrian white uniforms were not suitable for getting dirty, hardly to be worn by immigrants working in the fields.

The "monkey version" Prussian uniforms underwent numerous transformations for the East African region. In East Africa, with its year-round summer weather, less fabric was necessary, thus saving; the peculiar pointed helmet of Prussia was discontinued simply because Ernst disliked it aesthetically; buttons were reduced; belts? What belts, a uniform piece of rope was issued...

The redesigned "monkey version" Prussian uniforms were unrecognizable but still conservative, as East Africa’s intense ultraviolet radiation prevented them from becoming short-sleeved; these fabrics were not spared by Ernst.

Therefore, the "monkey version" Prussian uniforms still retained some semblance of Prussian uniforms overall, and mixed in with the early immigrants’ second-hand Prussian uniforms, Anton Perutz and others initially recognized East Africa colonies’ nearly universal Prussian uniform attire.

Over the month, Anton Perutz and others gradually adapted to the attire of East African residents.

Anton Perutz’s experimental base was built on the east coast of the Little Rhine River, directly occupying much of the cultivated land developed by Second Town along with undeveloped land. The cultivated land alone spanned over seven hundred acres.

Covering southern hills, northern plains, and lowlands along the Little Rhine River, the natural conditions and topography were exceptionally advantageous.

The Little Rhine River ensured water supply, while the hills, plains, and lowlands provided diverse terrain materials.

Windmills were constructed along the shore to continuously pump water to the fields. The fields, as per Anton Perutz’s requirements, were bordered with stone and earth to retain water, and divided into plots of varying sizes for easier observation of crop growth under different planting scales.

Drainage gates were also built in the fields to control water levels, allowing for interchangeable usage between waterlogged and dry fields.

Around the base, laboratories, archives, warehouses, and staff accommodations were constructed, equipped with instruments all imported from Europe, including microscopes, petri dishes, calipers... everything was available.

A botanical garden, vegetable plots, and gardens were included, along with a portion of land designated for tree planting.

This is intended as the primary site for Anton Perutz’s work and studies in the future. In fact, across East Africa, the Anton Perutz team can actively conduct on-site investigations.

In Germany, Anton Perutz had superior hardware facilities, but East Africa is the paradise for Anton Perutz, the tropical botanist.

Previously, plants that could only be seen through materials and specimens could now be observed firsthand locally, and with East Africa’s vast territory, rainforest, savanna, mountains, deserts... there are diverse tropical climates.

...

Anton Perutz’s experimental base had yet to officially launch, but that did not hinder him from giving lessons to the trainees first.

"The local conditions in East Africa are very conducive to agricultural development, though ironically, what limits a region’s agricultural potential is its drawbacks.

Agriculture and plant growth are inseparable from the four factors: land, heat, water, and sunlight.

Take East Africa, for instance, the limiting factor for East Africa’s agricultural potential is the land itself; however, East Africa’s terrain is relatively flat, the main issue is its soil."

The trainees followed Anton Perutz closely, diligently recording his words.

"The tropical land’s energy output is actually much higher than that of mid to high latitude regions; however, this energy cannot be effectively absorbed by the soil, instead stored within tropical plants and animals.

This is why tropical areas have dense vegetation, yet the soil fertility does not compare favorably to temperate and frigid zones.

Tropical soil is not barren, but these nutrients have not permeated the soil itself, whereas our crops require soil-based nutrients," Anton Perutz expressed his insights.

"Professor, if you say tropical soil can’t retain nutrients, isn’t this soil still barren?" a trainee questioned.

"This leads to what I want to discuss next: what is soil? In my understanding, it’s ’sand’ with impurities, just that this ’sand’ is more delicate compared to desert sand, capable of adhesion, and contains microscopic nutrients, whose quantity dictates soil fertility."

With these words, Anton Perutz picked up a handful of soil from the ground and said, "Look, the soil here is dark red, and in many low latitude regions, the soil is red, whereas in mid latitudes, it’s white, transitioning to black in high latitudes.

Thus, latitude changes, soil color changes, soil fertility also changes, but we know that vegetation at high latitudes does not actually surpass tropical areas.

This involves sunlight and precipitation factors; plant growth requires sunlight and water, without which most plants would perish.

The existence of rainforest demonstrates that tropical regions generate far more nutrients than frigid zones, yet when we use tropical red soil for grain cultivation, it’s less effective than mid to high latitude black soil.

This indicates that tropical soil’s abundant nutrients are being leached away, which is certainly not the fault of the vegetation, since extensive vegetation exists even at high latitudes. As low temperatures in high latitudes prevent many plants from growing, temperature may not be the primary culprit, thus the focus should be on water.

The early civilizations arose in areas with river sediment accumulation, such as ancient Egypt’s agriculture, which thrived relying on the Nile River’s flooding.

However, tropical rainforest rivers are more dense and abundant, yet why don’t these achieve the same effects!

This is because rainforest rivers almost never accumulate sediment, but instead carry away nutrients in the soil along the banks.

Though East Africa is tropical, precipitation is moderate, thus avoiding this phenomenon, thereby emphasizing studying the relation between soil fertility and water.

Of course, this is merely my hypothesis, which requires verification through subsequent experiments.

Only by mastering the patterns can we better apply measures to enhance East Africa’s soil fertility."