Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1895-12-19

keep clear OF nOXlOuS weeds ana thlStleS.
| They clear paths through for walking,
and they visit them frequently during
the year to be sure no blight has touched
the tree and that the sun is reaching
down to all alike.
The art in raising a Christmas tree is
to make it grow evenly. crooked
Christmas tree cannot be given away;
and the men who have forests of these
trees are obliged to give each enough
space to let it grow properly. Trees nat
urally look upward towards the light.
Therefore they must be packed together
to keep their tops always reaching mp,
yet far enough apart mot to be dwarfed.
This is the Christmas tree art in q nut
SHE'LL
When the Christmas tree is grown the
Christmas-tree man visits the woods
He looks at the trees, decides how many
carloads he will take of the trees and
orders them cut down for him and tied
in punches. The Christn1as-tree naan
pays about 25 cents a bunch, and shere
are about five trees in each bunch. Six
hundred punches make carload-3O00
trees.
After the farmer has chopped his trees
and loaded them upon a train he has
nothing more to do except count his
money. Christmas trees are like wheat.
They bring in spot cash. The Christmas
tree man receives the trees at New York.
unloads them and sells them to the gre-
ceryman. After that they reach the post
of Santa Claus by more or less nays
ferrous processes.
Trees from Maine.
The Marine Christmas tree, is. mueI.
more valuable than any other tree The
farmers of Maine have raised the trees
for SO NANNY generations that they Know
all about cutting them down. They
have method by which they catch the
tree as it breaks off at the root under
the blows Oft the axe, and when it lands
upon the ground it is supported SO, that
not a limb is injured. The Adirondaeks
have good trees now, and the state of
Michigan supplies many, but "down in
Maine is where the best trees grow.
Fashions change in Christmas trees as
in houses Trees that were very fash.
lonabIe few years ago cannot be sold
now. The boys of twenty years ago had
a little spruce tree on Christmas morning
They thought it a fine thing. But the
boys of today want the balsam. A
ChristmaS-tree man who should under
take to supply Santa Claus with spruce
trees this year, or with cedaEs, would go
home with small opinion OF ST. Niekvs
generosity. Nothing but the fragrant
balsam now sells.
A Christmas tree must be used ab0Ut
ten days after it is cut. The trees are
bought in the woods just about now. A
week from now they are tied in punches
and landed in the cars. and within an
other week they are getting their dec0ra-
tons.
There is always a preference In all
cities for trees that We're cut near by.
Nearly every one wants a tree that will
keep green and fluffy until New Years
day, and only the trees near at hone viii
do this.
The average size of a Christmas tree
is six feet This sells for about 40 or 50
cents on a good year. The largest trees
are about twenty-five feet high. or up to
the second-story window. There is small
demand for them. and, owing to the troiI-
for all of S25 Santa Claus is very eA-
travagant when he buys such trees as
this.
The cheapest Christmas tree sold is
the little sapling of three feet. 1t brings
about Is cents. Occasionally on Christ.
mas eve of bad year the grocer will
put it lower. but Is cents is the price the
Christmas tree man reckOnS upon.
Strings of Green.
Christmas green's come under a diff
ferent commercial treatment from the
trees. These in the East come from
New Jersey and Delaware. The favor,
tie green's are ground pine, feathery tuft
and Princess feather. These are tied in
ropes and shipped to the cities In the
West they come mostly from Wisconsin.
The Christmas-tree man sells these
green ropes for So for 100 yards. and the
green grocer gets about % cents a yard
for them. But nobody thinks this is
dear Christmas at the rate of % cents
for good long yard is dirt cheap.
If the green's are sold loose they are
packed in barrels, and the Christmas
tree man pokes an iEduiring nose in
each barrel, shifts the Princess feather