The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-12-12
I.
TREES GALORE

A few days more and the festive
Christmas. trees will be here t. be
smuggled by Old kriss into the home,
'Of the people of Wilmington where
mamma and the bigger girls will
have a pleasure annually longed for
by keeping the parlor guarded.
What would Christmas be without
the gaily-trimmed sweet scented cedar
] fir and pine? Like house without
4 furniture, like banquet without
( .viands. 1t is almost impossible to
imagine a celebration Of the luletide
festival In which the Christmas tree
" u NOT the chief feature.
III 1t is interesting to trace the history
slOf these symbols of the winter holiday
/ back 10 the days when they were mon
archs Of the gloomy Maine woods and
forests, unadorned save for the beauti-
ful greens in which nature robes
4 them.
4s' Up in the most northern State in
Y the Union these Christmas trees are
found in great abundance. Ever
since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth
Rock and strayed through Massa-
4 chusetts up to the sister State of
Maine, the pines of the woods, in this
latter land have been felled. and still
the forests are not dcnuded. They
grow in great groves, rearing their
stately heads sunward and promising
wealth to the farmer of the State.
To Maine the Christmas tree dealers
yearly wend their way and bargain
with the farmers for their stock Of
I evergreen trees.
y Twenty five years ago the Christmas
trees were dressed differently and the
demand was small but of late years
the demand has been great and the
decorations Of the trees have become
q elaborate creations and the day of the
candy toy is gone.
Two months before the advent of
the greatest of all holidays the real
work of the Christmas tree harvester
commences although he must keep an
eye on his crop of trees throughout
the year. Early in October the
farmer makes the rounds of his groves
selecting trees which are in proper
condition for telling this year, mark
hg them and entering them in his
stock book"
There are two ways of handling
he Christmas tree crop. Either the
ar8arf cuts the trees himself and
flakes them to market, or else he sells
4 them as they stand to one Of the big
dealers, cutting them after they arc
sold. This latter deal is the one
, most preferred by the farmer and as
the demand increases and the supply,
grows less the dealers seldom wait to
purchase their stock until they come
to market. To make sure of securing
d Sufficient number to supply their
customers, they have taken to visiting
the Maine farms and bidding for car
loads Il year ahead. Most OF the
Maine farmers sold their 1901 crop
early in, January Of 1900 The difli-
culty i.,,not in disposing of the trees
but III raising sufficient quantity to
supply the great demand, which each
year increases.
The method of the big wholesale
dealers, of whom there are ten in the
united States, is to canvas the forests
make selection of a group or grove
of trees, give the owner a lump sum
for the lot, all of which are guaran-
teed to reach the purchaser in perfect
condition, and then return to tlleir
respective cities, leaving the farmers
to do the rest, including cutting,
packing, shipping. etc. After order
ing, the dealers seldom see the trees
aagin until they arrive by the carload
in the railway depot.