The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-12-13
CHRISTMAS TREE HARVEST.
A Profitable Trade started BY New York
Yachtsmen.
IN. 7. Sun. }

4NHSlauu otAGos every Sohsoh sH1u al
old woods operator of he Pine Tree State
'tand of that number att least three-hfths
grow on the bleak hillsides of eastern and
northern Maine where the harvesting and
shipping of Christmas trees to tn 9 towns
and large cities. along the Atlantic coast
are conducted on a large scale. Well
paying employment isl thus furnished TO
hundreds of young farmers and timber
men, and at time, too, when finances
rate low and demands for re ady cash are
proportionately many.
"More than IS per cent, of the Christmas
trees which reach this and other extensive
markets from Maine are black balsam fir,
a coarse grained, white-wooded product
of the sub-arctic belt which, together
with the dwarf gray birch and bitter
willow shrub forms the final hedge of
vegetation around the North Pole. All
the rest are hemlocks, pines, and now and
then arbor vitae. trees. OF course pines
ard spruces areseasier to get, and il many
parts of the United States they are almost
entirely used, but the general adoption of
the fir in the East is due to its many SUI
perior ornamental features and adaptation
to Christmas purposes. Another reason
perhaps is that after several centuries of
inquiry and experiment no one has ever
discovered any possible use for the f1r
other than it's entire fitness as the Christ
mas emblem.
'tAs do most great enterprises the har.
vssting of Christmas trees owes It's IN
ception to New York men. About
twenty-five years ago q party OF duck
hunters from the metropolis went TO
Maine on a yacht. cossting along the
eastern shore of Penobscot Bay from Or
land to Brooklin. This WAS period IN
which farmers and tim ber-land owners
were specializing as to how long it would
be before the entire Stats was given over
to fir trees. Several observant members
of the PARTY, remarking the millions OF
young firs which crowned the headland,
concluded that such symmetrical bushes
would make exclieent Christmas trees,
and, with characteristic metropolitan en-
terprise, at once opened negotiations
with the farmers for the purchase OF
few cRrgoeS
SAT first the farmers thought the New
Workers were simply having a high old
lark at their expense, never having en-
countered anybody SO foolish and unSo-
phisticsted as to. buy frs. But when 1.-THE
visitors opened their pocketbooks and
offered their money they were convinced
of their sincerity. So they fell to with
will and loaded several schonoers with the
Maine hills worthless growth. At yarl-
Gus ports as far south as Boston the tree
filed vessels touched. discharging trees at
eaoh port.
1.-THE business was an immense success
from ths very start, and the original
members of the Christmas tree syndicate
made money hand over fist After
while they sold out at profit to other
concerns and they made money, too.
Others, learning of their success, entered
the Christmas tree field, and SO, within
twenty five years from the time the first
load was sent out. fir lands have advanced
in price from 500 for township-a
trifing matter of some 23S,000 acres-to
$40 and SIS for single acre. 1t only
took them about ton years to strip off all
the Christmas bush suppliers went inland.
sending their wares TO Boston and New
York by the trainloads
sWhen the business was first opened no
more that four schooners were employed
and their united cargoes contained no
more than 8 600 trees. Today ksix times
that number of vessels skirt along the
coast as far south as New York, while
dozens of train1oads are sent TO various
points of distribution in the State of New
York and the New England states. Last
year, ], 1000, 600 trees were shipped from
Naine &ES
ssHarvesting the Christmas trees is con-
Quoted in no careless or haphazard sort of
way. Not every fir viii answer the pur-
pose. The ideal tree should he int nsely
green, symmetrical, straight and graceful
with an abundance of limbs stiff enough
to hold up the donations and ornaments
they are designed to bear. So those en-
gagged in harry est. ng first survey the field
ana mark out number of thickets of
sizable frs. One man, an expert, does
the cutting, while another follows closely
in his wake and sorts the fallen trees into
bundles of equal length, binding them
together with stout spun yarn. Then
teamster, driving a pair sof horses at
tached to a hayrack, makes up load of
the bundles and hurrias IL to the nearest
wharf or railroad station. From there
the trees 90 to the wholesalers in the large
cities in bulk, to be disposed of in lots to
suit the retailers.
Although The trees are necessarily
bulky and expensive to ship, there are
large profits in the business, for it is a
very poor acre of fir land which will not
yield 5000 trees and allowing $40 an acre
for stumpsage $50 an acre for labor and
carriage. and $50 an acre for freight, the
trees do not cost two cents apiece deliy-
cred in Boston or this city. The price of
the smallest tree in the cities seldom if
ever falls blow 25 understanding from
that sum to maximum of about $3.50
it may be readily ssen that so long as
they find customers the meu who handle
Christmas trees are are in no danger of
becoming poor.
sBut the bene fit which accrues to the
Pine Tree State from this selling of
Christmas trees is by no means confined
to the dollars which come from labor and
stumpage. Land grown up to sfrs is no
only worthless from the lumberma n Is
point of view, but it must be cut over
and burned before anything else will grow
on it, Prior to the development of the
Christmas tree Industry fir lands were SO
entirely valueless that they were held ex-
empt from taxation by the town asses
sors. When, however, the tree hunters
came along and removed the incum bering
growth the farmers were encouraged to
burn off the denuded hills and SOW grass
seed among the ashes. In this way were
acquired fine pasture lands, and eventu-
ally moving fields, whoa afforded food
for many herds of COWS and sheep. Thus
thousands and thousands of acres have
been reclaimed, and every Christmas con-
tributes heavily to the increase OF Names