Hammond Times, Volume 16, Number 156, Hammond, Lake County, 22 December 1922 — Page 19

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The Trees Used for Christmas Are, Commonly Speaking, a Wild Crop, and Careless Cutting is Rapidly Depleting the Forests European Methods Offer An Object Lesson.

By RlIMi BOUT 4.500,000 Christmas trees will bo required to supply the deruaad In this country for the coming Yuletide. Seven In ten of them will be firs and spruces. These are best for the purpose; but, where they are not available, they will be supplemented by pine, red cedar, hemlock, white cedar and arbor vltae. There Is hardly any kind of an evergreen tree that Is not made to serve as a Christmas tree. In this country Christmas trees are a wild crop, and often they are cut in so reckless a way as to deplete forest growth. That Is a sort of mischief for which there is no excuse, inasmuch as the cutting: may Just as well bo done In such fashion as to help the development of timber land, by judicious thinning out. The so-called Pennsylvania Dutch, who first Introduced the Christmas tree In America, were settlers from Germany, and 1n that country the business Is conducted on principles that are at once common-sensible and fcientific. Forests over there are under control of the sovernment. and probably there Is not now an evergreen growing In Germany that was not artificially planted. Young spruce trees are set out In rows, and as they gain else they are gradually thinned. Little ones a foot high are potted for miniature Christmas trees: bigrger ones are sent to market by hundreds of thousands at the Yuletide season. Very likely it is from this source that we In the United States have rather newly obtained the Idea of using miniature Christmas trees. Florists 'now sell them In pots for the adornment of dinner-tables at Christ Sr. v- '..''?,... -:: ' Is Si"

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k Vli. "-'5 liACHK mas parties, and for other such appropriate ornamental purposes, with little bows of red ribbon daintily tied here and there on the branches. Farm-Grown Christmas Trees . Recently experiments have been made at the Michigan agricultural station In the growing of Chrlstmaa trees as a farm crop. It Is thought that an Industry of the kind, undertaken as a "sido line." would pay the farmer who 13 located not too far from a city. Ills plantation once established, he could draw from It a regular and satisfactory Income; for Christmas trees are a cash crop and sure money, the demand for them never failing. Farm-grown Christmas trees would command an exceptionally high price. Inasmuch as under cultivation they could be made bushier and better shaped. Furthermore, the grower could choose a kind of tree superior for the purpose such, for Instance, as the Norway spruce, which grows fast and has branches that stand out well from the strong main stem. It will attain marketable size In five or six years. But the prettiest and most desirable of all Christmas trees is the balsam fir. Native to bogs, swamps, and other wet places. It Is one of our most beautiful evergreens, graceful In form and with a dense foliage. Scattered over the trunk of this tree are small blister-like sacs, from which, when they are punctured, freely flows a fluid clear and transparent as crystal. This is the balsam so highly prized for Its supposed medicinal properties. Housewlvea la 1 rural districts store It for family use In the north wooda the fragrant V 1 - - yrstiw. ' . "

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9 I r- tit V If leaves are utilized to fill pillows and cushions. Tho balsam fir may be called the Christmas tree par excellence, being preferred on account of Us long horizontal-spreading, springy branches, and deep-green foliage, which persists lunger than that of any other evergreen. It makes up a large part of the cargo of the "Chrlstmaa tree ship." which, as one of the latest events In navigation on the Great Lakes each year, brings greenery from the upper peninsula of Michigan to Chicago and Detroit. Beginnings Of Tho Tree Custom If we look back to a time only so long ago as the middle of the last century, we shall find that, barring tho Pennsylvania. Dutch, few people In tho United State's were acquainted with Christmas trees. Once taken up. however, the "fad." as at first it must have been deemed, rapidly spread, and waa even adopted in New England, where In former days the Yuletide festival w-as not much celebrated, being regarded as of small account compared with Thanksgiving. It is related that about fifty years ago some duck hunters cruising along the coast of Maine noticed the millions of young balsam firs which grew along the shores, and the brilliant Idea occurred to oire member of the party that these symmetrical evergreens would make admirable Christmas trees. They hired a farmer to cut BOO of them, which were shipped to Boston, where, when they arrived, the marketmen fell over one another In their anxiety to buy them. Previously the balsam fir had been regarded S3 a weed. Growing wild over vast areas which are useless for any other purpose. It Is of no value worth mentioning for timber or fuel, and the farmers say that not even a bug or worm will eat it. Tet its vigor V i , s-?E'-$ 7i cr- -

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r-w ... . HI .. T;' Is euch that, where It thrives. It is able to crowd out nearly all competing forms of vegetation. Nowadays, however, the balsam fir Is looked upon with greate respect in Maine, from which State at least 1.000.000 of the sweet-scented evergreens have been shipped out during the present month for use as Christmas trees. Their sale has netted at least $150,000, paid In cash, the bulk or the money going into the pockets of persons who are glad to earn a few extra dollars to make the festive season more cheerful and comfortable for themselves and their families. Fanning And Marfcetinj The Trees A given area of fir-producing land will yield & harvest twice In every decade five years being required to grow a fair-sized Christmas tree and. allowing 2.500 trees to an acre, the crop will represent about a car load for every patch of that size. 1 Fifty acres, then, should yield a reg- I ular output of ten carloads of trees j per annum. If the farmer gets ten cents apiece for them, a carload of balsam firs delivered at the nearest j railroad station will fetch $25. In view of the profit obtainable, the Maine . farmers have found It worth while to subject the balsam firs to a sort of semi-cultivation. Well-shaped trees fetch the best price; and so the firs are thinned out where they thow a tendency to grow too thick, in order that they may have enough light and ample space In which to develop symmetrical proportions. The work of cutting the trees begins about six weeks before Christmas, and even the farmers' wives and daughters are called upon to help. While the men chop down the firs a part of the task that has to be done with great care, lest the branchea suffer damage the women and young1 folks hew off superfluous , it .... it . .-J

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M 1 If V s- s" ?. e A t.-r i4 V J . re?.; 41. i - IS- A. IS boughs with hatchets, and wltii strong cords tie up tho trees in finches of five. Finally the bunches are loaded on wagons and carried to the railroad stations. Expert buyers, a couple of months before the holidays arrive, go through the balsam fir regions of Maine, the Adlrondacks, and Northern Michigan and pick out the tracts which seem best suited to furnish the material they want. They make contracts with the farmer for as many carloads as they require, at a stated price, and his part of the bargain Is complete when he delivers the trees to the railroad. Christmas popularity by no means endangers the future of the balsam fir. It Is too common, too widely distributed, and too eager to grow to be in peril of extermination. Fifty years ago, it is said, one could buy a whole township overgrown with this "weed" for $100; the same lands today are worth $10 to $15 an acre just for Christmas trees. But there is more than that to the story. Lands that are stripped of young firs are easily fitted for pasturing. The farmers have burned over the hillsides, and plowed and cultivated them, and thus great area3 of waste territory have

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been made available for agriculture. Holly A Sacred Plant Linked Inseparably with Christmas Is the holly. It la & sacred plant, legends in regard to it dating back to a period thousands of years before Christ was born. Fortunately we have plenty of it in this country. It grows as far north as Southern Maine, and in Arkansas and Texas reaches a height of fifty feet. By origin it belongs to the southland, but it seems gradually to have pushed Its way northward. In greatest beauty It Is found along the foothills of the Carolinaa. The deep-green of the leaves of the holly, armed with little spikes along their margins leaves bo bright that they reflect the light as mirrors are regarded by many devout people as symbols of the crown of thorns. Its blood red berries are supposed to have a significance of their own in the aame connection. Certainly not less than a million dollars, and perhaps much more than that sum in the aggregate, will be spent this Christmas for holly. There la no good reason why it should not be profitably grown for market under semi-cultivation, that is to say t- J Wit. , i

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5 fy 4 and Indeed, there are a few enterprising persons who have already undertaken to do so. It is another "side line" available to the farmer in suitable localities. Mistletoe A Parasite The xnistletoe is another plant associated with Christmas which though it can hardly be called beautiful, is Interesting. The ancient Druids regarded it with veneration. It Is supposed to possess a certain mystic significance, and a strong flavor of the sentimental attaches to it. In the northern part of the United States it Is comparatively scarce, but io the South trees are often seen thickly festooned with it. In some sections It is shot down by hunters from the tall trees. There are no fewer than 4C0 known species of mistletoe, most of them being tropical. The mistletoe, as everybody knows. Is a parasite, living at the expense of trees on which it grows. Birds are fond of the pulp of its berries, but vidently dislike the seeds, which they tear out. leaving them sticking on tree branches, where they start new plants. Recent experiments made by botanists have proved that mistletoe can be propagated without much difficulty, by planting the sticky seeds on gum trees or sycamores. They have only to be stuck into the crotch of a twlpr. one here and another there, and mistletoe plants will Foon develop. 7 'V- "4j.- 'fl -A vr ... 7? V 1 v

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