Chapter 370: Upgrade

"Just now the farmers said that if you want the livestock to work, you have to feed them grass, and if you want the machine to move, you have to feed them coal, which is much more expensive than grass.

What's more, the master who drives the iron ox said that the iron ox uses white coal imported from warships. Warships can afford such precious coal, but farmers can't." Chen Baoliang expressed the farmers' voice.

White coal or red coal is the common name for anthracite.

Anthracite is the coal with the highest degree of coalification.

Anthracite has a high fixed carbon content, low volatile yield, high density, high hardness, high ignition point, and no smoke when burning. It is black and hard, with a metallic luster. It will not be stained by rubbing with fat. The fracture is shell-shaped. When burning, the flame is short and smokeless, and it does not coke. It is a good fuel and the most expensive coal.

This high-quality coal is generally supplied to warships by various countries first, followed by merchant ships on high-value routes.

Even the machines in the factory are rarely driven by white coal, and the most direct reason is that white coal is too expensive.

In the future, when it comes to Liang Yao's generation, there are few opportunities to use coal in life after growing up.

When I was a child, I could often see honeycomb coal in the streets and alleys, but when I grew up, I basically didn't see coal in my daily life.

It's not that there are no coal mines in California, but the coal produced in California is mainly bituminous coal, which is low-metamorphic bituminous coal with a lower coalification process than anthracite, and coking coal.

In fact, the coal reserves in the entire western United States are also mainly these two types of coal, especially low-metamorphic bituminous coal.

Moreover, the coal resources in the western region are concentrated in the four inland states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.

There are coal resources in the west coast, but they are not abundant. As for anthracite, it is even more to the extent that any anthracite mining area must be protected in case of emergency in the future.

In short, with the coal resources and types in California, Liang Yao cannot be so extravagant as to open anthracite to agricultural tractors.

The vast and rich American country naturally has anthracite, and it can also produce anthracite now.

During the expedition to Japan, Perry sent several ships of anthracite to Liang Yao.

Liang Yao also asked the sailors of the navy that the navy's white coal was provided by Pennsylvania.

To be precise, it was provided by the Lehigh River Silent Coal Producing Area, which is one of the world's famous anthracite areas.

The reason why the steel industry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been able to grow and develop has helped American steel production surpass England, top the world's number one throne, and seize the name of the world's steel capital.

The anthracite of the Lehigh River has made an indispensable contribution.

However, this anthracite producing area is located in the Appalachian coalfield area, that is, the eastern region.

If you want Pennsylvania's high-quality and low-cost anthracite to enter California in large quantities, it can only be realized after the Pacific Railway is completed. However, the Pacific Railway has only been under construction for less than half a year.

Coal is a bulk commodity. Without efficient freight logistics, Liang Yao can't count on Pennsylvania's anthracite for a while.

Liang Yao might as well hope to find anthracite in the Qing Dynasty instead of counting on anthracite in Pennsylvania.

The Qing Dynasty has the highest coal reserves in the world, including anthracite.

However, the coal fields in the Qing Dynasty are mainly concentrated in the north, and anthracite is concentrated in Shanxi and Guizhou. The anthracite reserves in Shanxi and Guizhou are nearly 70% of the total anthracite reserves in the Qing Dynasty.

At present, Liang Yao can only barely reach Guangdong and Fujian provinces in the Qing Dynasty, and cannot reach the inland and north of the Qing Dynasty.

Fujian and Guangdong provinces do have anthracite, but the situation is the same as California, and the reserves are only a fraction of the country's anthracite reserves.

Therefore, instead of thinking about the anthracite in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, it is better to send people to explore anthracite in California and nearby areas.

"Can this steam tractor run with ordinary coal produced in California?" Liang Yao turned around and asked Walter and others.

"It can run. We have also tested it with ordinary coal, but the effect is not as good as white coal, which will reduce the speed of the steam tractor." Walter said.

"How fast can it run using ordinary coal?" Liang Yao continued to ask.

"On flat ground, it can run at about 6 miles per hour." Walter replied.

Although Liang Yao advocated the use of metric units in California, old craftsmen like Walter who have used imperial units since childhood are more accustomed to using imperial units.

6 miles per hour converted to kilometers is about 10 kilometers per hour. Although this speed is very slow, it is not unacceptable.

"Then use our own coal. I will say hello to the Coal and Steel Alliance and ask them to allocate some coal to provide cheap agricultural coal to California farmers." Liang Yao said.

"Thank you on behalf of California farmers." Chen Baoliang shook Liang Yao's hand gratefully.

"Increasing the output of agricultural products in California is the best thank you to me. I hope that in the near future, California's food will not only be self-sufficient, but also export to earn foreign exchange. I am eagerly waiting for this day." Liang Yao smiled.

As the number of immigrants in California increases faster and faster, the food production has not kept up with the growth rate of immigrants, and it is still impossible to achieve self-sufficiency.

Of course, this is not a bad thing from another perspective. In America, manpower is the most valuable.

After visiting the steam tractor and wheat fields, Liang Yao decided to take a walk around because it was still early.

The endless golden wheat fields and the rice fields on both sides of the San Joaquin River are pleasant.

The nearby water conservancy facilities are also very well repaired.

Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture told Liang Yao about their ambitious plan, which was to reclaim all the wasteland along the San Joaquin River into farmland and vegetable gardens within three years, making it the granary and vegetable basket of California.

Chen Baoliang also took the opportunity to propose to Liang Yao that Stockton be built as a city.

"How many people are there in Stockton now?" Liang Yao asked.

"That depends on how you count it. If you only count the population in the town, Stockton has 9,000 people. If you count the scattered farmers around, it must be over 10,000 people." Chen Baoliang said.

"Stockton is a town with an agricultural economy as its main economy. The population is definitely not as concentrated as that of Jinshan and Los Angeles."

When the population of Stockton reached 8,000, Chen Baoliang proposed to the state to upgrade Stockton's administrative level from a town to a city.

However, at the beginning of the establishment of the state, California enacted a law that only settlements with a population of more than 10,000 residents could be built as cities.

The population density of the United States is low, which is particularly evident in the southern and western regions.

In the western region, a settlement with a population of 1,000 dares to call itself a city, let alone 9,000 people.

"Congressman Fremont, what do you think?" Liang Yao turned his head to look at Fremont beside him.

At this time, Fremont was obsessed with admiring the pastoral scenery of Stockton.

After coming to his senses, Fremont smiled and said, "Stockton now has a population of 9,000. At the current population growth rate, Stockton's population will exceed 10,000 after Christmas at the latest.

Minister Chen's request to apply for a city is not groundless. California now has three industrial cities, and it also needs an agricultural city to attract more immigrants to participate in agricultural production activities."

Fremont also strongly supports Stockton's upgrade of its administrative level. The rapid development of the agricultural areas on both sides of the San Joaquin River also makes Fremont very surprised.