Evening journal., 1895-12-12
THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
How 1t is Grown and Cut, and
How It Is Handled.
CHRIa7MAs TREE MAN A MYSTERY

OHRIsTMAs TREE MAN A MYSTERY
He Works But Two weeks n Year: aud
Yet Reaps Golden Harvest-Care Re-
quirsd tn Getting Them Ready for Mar
ket--A Few Facts About an Interesting
Subject.
Only a few days more and Christmas
will DO here and All hands will be busy.
the little onss guessing what they will
get In the line Of presents and the older
ones planning how they will furnish the
hoped for and wished for COED things
Already the careful mother Is looking
over her stock Of ornau ents which, after
having made beautiful last years tree,
| we're laid away In drawers and boxes for
use again, or makes EuIreptious visits to
the store, for the purpose OF laying In =
new supply 10 Is busy season and
although there Is q deal Of worry and
planning and calculating there ls tings
Of sweetness mingled with the bitter, and
the recollection OF the happy smiles and
glad exclamations OF the children makes
the burden light
The Christmas Tree Man.
There IA one factor Of the great holiday
who Ia even more mysterious than old
Santa Claus himself. aud he - the tree
man People who each year raise an
evergreen monument IN honor OF the
day, or decorate with pine and holly
their rooms know but very little about
him Oaly few years sgo the good old
saint whore silver whiskers and fur coat
Is dear 70 every little boy and girl was
womb TO take his silver hatchet and.
behind hin team Of reindeer, seek the
woods aud cut his own trees Now he
does it by proxy. Who he Is and where
he lives 10 the problem TO many
There are IN this country only about
ten men who deal exclusively 10 Christ
mas trees. and they supply the whole OF
the United States and Canada, aud to them
the business Is verltabale gold mine.
he worhs only two weeks IN the year
aud during that time he bargains. buys
and sells. These weeks are golden ones
to him and be shows II BY dressing well
all the rest Of the year, and enjoying
himself generally. Every man cannot
be Christmas tres man. He has to be
actually born IN the business.
How They worE.
Maine le the great garden spot for trees
aud there the farmers and woodmen
make a regular business OF raising the
pines The art lies Ia Masking the tree
grow evenly. for a crooked tree cannot
be given away lot alone sold. The knaok
ia 80 planting the trees "a TO have their
tops always resohing skywnrd. yet far
enough apart to prevent them from
dwsriing The average height Is six
feet and Il takes Ave yoars TO grow The
woodman can count on going over the
sane strip OF land once every Eve years.
so that few scres Of pines will make
COED livlrg Tor pretty good sized
family from generation TO generation
world without end rs long as old Santa
Claus exists
In addition to Mdne, Michigan and
the AdirOndecks Of New York and the
famous catlkils, furnish many good
trees. but not so 60 d as way down in
Maine There the raisers know
al about cutting them They have
method BY which they catch
tho tree as II breaks on at the root IN.
der tho blows Of tho axe 30 that when It
lands II Is supp ,rted 50 that not branch
% broken Formerly spruce tress we're
fashionable, now the fragrant balsam
holds the palm After the grower cuts
bis trees, which are sold standing. he ties
them In buncbes OF Eve and loads them
on cars. eco lunches making a carload,
Tor which he gets from $3.50 20 $3.50.
The tree man then ships them where he
has a market and sells them for what he
can get.
An Uncertain Market.
Although % above stated the two
weeks Of trade are golden. there Is some
uncertainty as to whether the season
will be really good one or not The times
do not seem materially TO influence 1t.
! No matter how hard the times the peopls
must have their trees no matter If they
are small The w0odmen are the great
Influences Some years they will com
bne and ship 40 many secretly to the
cities that a slump follows and prices 90
down to nothing Next year they get
discouraged aud will not chop their crop
and then up goes the price. The Christ
mas tree 10 AS uncsrtaia TO the Christ
mas tree man As peaches are TO the
Delaware farmer, or Santa Claus TO the
small boy, but he doesn't care He
knows he will have some kind Of q
harvest and past years lesd him to be-
lleve IL will be good.
About Christmas Greens.
And now a word about Christmas
; green's used so largely FOR household and
church decorations They are handled
+ dlfferently-New Jersey aud Delaware
/ are important factors Ia these fns
favorites are ground pine. fsathery tuft
D and princess feather which come to
! market tied iu ropes Wisconsin also
, supplies large quantities Of these green's.
B Often they are packed 10 barrels loose,
) aud the buyer strings them.
! Holly comes largely from New Jersey.
It grows slowly, and the beautiful green
leaves aud rich red berries always COM
maud good prices.
This, briefly, is a history OF the tree
and It's handlers, and the readers OF the
Z EVENING JOURNAL as they purchase
their trees for Christmas can do so know
log little OF how they are gathered and