Add two cups of corn syrup, two ounces of liquid chlorine bleach, two pinches of Epsom salts, a half teaspoon of Boraxo, and one teaspoon of chelated iron. Stir the ingredients thoroughly, then stand the freshly cut butt of the tree in the solution outside for a day or two to let the fire retardant infiltrate its tissues. Keep the tree reservoir filled with this special solution throughout the Christmas season. The corn syrup provides sugar for metabolism which in turn increases the tree's water uptake. The boron makes the sugar move through the tree faster.
Molds clog the vessels in the butt and prevent the tree from taking up water.
The programs of the Montana State University Extension Service available to all people regardless of race, creed, color, sex, handicap or national origin.