Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 302, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1912 — GETTING MISTLETOE FROM OKLAHOMA [ARTICLE]

GETTING MISTLETOE FROM OKLAHOMA

HOW TWE KISSING WANT 18 GATHERED AND MARKETED. Doubtless, many people while purchasing their Yule tide decorations ;have of tan wondered whence come the ; immense' supplies of mistletoe which must ha required to. fill the great demand tor it during the htiifdiay season |in the cities and towns of those states I too laar north for that parasitic growth, to thrive, says F. J. Sherman in. Country Life in America. Among many of the people native to the states north q£ Kansas and Missouri who have never taken the traur bte to look the matter up a sort of general idea prevails that mistletoe- is to be found only at rare Internals, after a diligent. search, and then on oak trees, with only a few sprigs growing in a pjfcce. The traveler visiting Oklahoma City, capital of thft new state of Oklahoma,/ during the wftiter time taking A walk out to> Wheeler park, which ia situated im the southwest part of the town, wilii have this idea quickly dispelled from his mind, for even a. considerable distance from) the park his attention will be drawn to th* strange tppearance which the trees present at that season of the year, when the leaves are off. and the* mistletoe thrives on every branch, In, the summer time,.when the,leaves are, -on the trees, th<*. mistletoe cannob he seen unless it. ift specifier looked! for, and then It Appears to be alT&ost a part of the, natural! foliage of juke tree upon which it is growing. Contrary to general belbtff, mistletoe is rarely found on oak trees and to Oklahoma is nearly always found 0% swamp, or water elms, which are erally seen growing to lowlands and along river hanks. Here It thrive* luxuriantly. There ia but o@e species usually found In Oklahoma out of the 400 odd species known to exist, must of which are found in tropical countries and are parasitic in nature. In Oklahoma two or three weeks before Christmas the annual mistletoe harvest is gathered—generally by boys who don’t mind the dangerous and risky job of climbing into all sixes of trees after it—and brought to town, where it is packed in barrels and boxes and shipped to the northern cities and towns, where, along with the holly and evergreen, it finds a place in those happy homes which have not forgotten the good old custom of decorating in honor of the glad Chrißtmastide.