I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 108 Orcs Shed Fur Too

After plowing, you have to harrow it. This harrow is different from other harrows. It's a rectangle that's as wide as a slab of earth and as long as two slabs of earth. There's a partition in the middle of this rectangle. There are serrated iron rods on the four sides of the rectangle and on the partition. You pull this harrow across the plowed field with an animal-shaped tool. The grass roots and stones on the ground are all picked up, and the larger clods of earth are crushed, making the ground flat.

After harrowing, the land is considered ready for planting.

These farm chores were not difficult to learn. After Bai Ling demonstrated them a few times, the villagers replaced the plows with harrows and began to harrow the land slowly.

Bai Ling had reminded the clan chief Zhan beforehand that after deciding that all the tribes would settle down to farm, the clan chief Zhan instructed the tribesmen in the ironworks to stop forging other ironware and focus all their efforts on manufacturing plows and harrows.

Because of the ample preparations, the tribe had more than enough plows and harrows. Now that the weather was warm enough, they could work outdoors. Zhan also arranged for some tribesmen to forge various farm tools in the ironworks.

Many people from other tribes came to learn farming from Bai Ling, and they were all brought by their own tribal chiefs. After learning how to plow and harrow the land from Bai Ling, the tribal chiefs took half of their people back home. They had to hurry back to find suitable land to cultivate before they could proceed to the next step.

The remaining half of the tribe continued to help in the High Tree tribe, and they would return when spring returned and the plants sprouted again.

That was when I truly learned how to plant from Bai Ling.

*

The Bai family cultivated the most land.

However, Bai Ling's family did the work the fastest because there were many people in his family, and they were all large beastmen.

Bai Ling's family, Yue, and Bai Ling's uncle Lin were also there. Lin's partner was due to have a baby in a little over a month. Since the weather wasn't completely warm yet, Lin and his partner decided to stay in the Gaoshu tribe. The Gaoshu tribe had heated brick beds, and the caves were even warmer. Lin decided to wait until his partner gave birth before going back.

Feng was willing to let his older brother continue living here. They had plenty of food, and if his older brother and younger brother lived in the Tall Tree Tribe, he could take better care of the younger brother. He could also help take care of the cubs when they were born.

Bai Ling's family has three sets of farm tools, which makes plowing the land more convenient. In addition to plows and harrows, their family also has a full range of other farm tools, making it easier to clear away grass roots and small stones.

As the weather gradually warms up, we no longer need to wear such thick clothes when working outside. The family members chatted while working, and the conversation eventually turned to shedding.

Winters here are very cold, and summers are very hot. After spring arrives, the temperature slowly rises, and after a while, the orcs in the tribe will start to shed their fur.

For orcs, shedding fur is a real nuisance. At this time of year, orcs have to transform into their animal form every day to rub off the fur that has fallen off their bodies.

Although the fallen fur is very soft, it's not very useful. Sometimes it even flies into the orc's nose and mouth, causing the orc to sneeze several times.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ling suddenly had an idea. After the family members finished their discussion, Bai Ling said, "Father, Father, Uncle, Yue, the fur that the beastmen shed is actually very useful. Don't throw it away casually. Collect it all and put it together. I know how to use it."

The beastmen in the house are either white lions or white wolves, with extremely smooth and fine fur. If this were on Earth, it would be the finest fur.

Even the fallen fibers are very soft and can be spun into yarn to knit sweaters.

Even if you don't have time to tidy up right now, you can do it when you have some free time. Anyway, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and autumn and winter are still a long way off.

Upon hearing Bai Ling say that the fallen fur was useful, Feng asked, "How do we use it? We've tried sewing the fallen fur onto animal hides, but it all shows up very quickly and falls everywhere, making it difficult to clean up."

Bai Ling said, "Father, this needs to be spun into thread." Bai Ling held the plow in his hand and couldn't gesture to his family. "It's spun into the kind of thread used for sewing animal hides, one strand at a time, and then knitted into a sweater."

Orcs sew clothes using a thread taken from tree bark. In autumn, when the bark of that tree is peeled off, you can see fine threads inside. These threads are taken off, and several are twisted together to make sewing thread.

This thread isn't very strong, but it's passable for sewing clothes. Bai Ling had considered using this thread to make clothes, but ultimately gave up.

Firstly, this type of thread is not only thin but also relatively easy to break. Basically, once a garment made of animal hide is cleaned, it needs to be sewn again with new thread. Secondly, this type of thread is somewhat rough. It's fine for sewing clothes, but if you actually use it to make clothes, it might scratch your skin. Thirdly, this type of thread is quite difficult to obtain. Animals have to peel each thread from the bark of trees, which is too much work to make a garment.

Moreover, there aren't many of these trees in the tribe. They're just enough for the tribespeople to sew animal hides, but if they were to be used to make clothes, all the trees in the tribe combined wouldn't be enough to make even a few garments.

The bark of this tree takes two to three years to mature. It grows slowly, lacks resilience and breaks easily. The bark is rough and scratches the skin. It is also time-consuming and laborious to make, so it is obviously not suitable for making clothes.

Bai Ling almost immediately abandoned the idea of ​​using this silk thread to make clothes and instead searched for it within the tribe.

Unfortunately, despite traveling to many places, he and Yue didn't see any hemp plants. This plant is quite common on Earth, and it's unclear whether Bai Ling hadn't traveled far enough, whether the climate here wasn't suitable for hemp, or whether hemp simply didn't exist in the beastman world. In any case, Bai Ling hadn't seen any.

Bai Ling plans to travel more in the tribe and nearby tribes this year to see if she can find hemp plants, or other plants that can be used for weaving.

Ideally, we should find a plant similar to cotton, so that we can not only spin yarn and weave cloth, but also make quilts and winter clothes, and the clothing problem can be solved immediately.

*

Bai Ling said that the fallen hairs could be spun into yarn to knit sweaters. Although her family didn't know what sweaters were or how to spin yarn, they immediately believed her.

Lin said first, "I'll collect all the feathers that have fallen this year and give them to you, Ling. You can use them to spin yarn and knit sweaters."

Feng, Cang, and Chen all said they would collect the fallen feathers. Yue glanced at Bai Ling and smiled slightly: "Ling, I will also collect the fallen feathers. I want to learn how to spin yarn and knit sweaters from you."

Bai Ling smiled and said, "Well, collect all the fallen hairs, soak them in water first, then wash them clean with soap, dry them in the sun, and put them away. Once I get the spinning wheel ready, we can start spinning thread."