Evening journal., 1910-12-23
gOME LEGENDS OF
THE XMAS TREE
st. BOnifaCe Said to Have ES-
tabIiShed Custom in Eighth
Century
MARKED ADVENT Of
THE NEW RELIGISN


Around the Christmas tree and its
many symbolic meanings are wrapped
numerous pretty fanciful tales and le-
gems that the children may want to
know of at this time. Until about
sixty years ago there were very few
Christmas trees in America, outside
of the homes of Holland-Americans
The Pennsylvania Dutch cherished the
custom, long before it was adopted
by the New Englandera The Dutch
obtained the idea of the Christmas
tree from Germany, where the lonely
fir tree first became an emblem of
Christianity and IL was through the
former that the custom spread into
America. Along about 1860 a party
OF hunters were cruising along the
coast of Maine, a state which at that
time was considered useless for agri-
cultural purposes, whom one of the
number noticed a great tract of fir
trees extending along the rock-bound
coast The idea occurred to the pleas
ure seeker that these would make
ideal Christmas trees, but when he ap-
preached a native with a proposition
TO cut and ship quantities of the trees
into the large eastern cities, he was
laughed TO scOrn by the farmer whose
manner of securing a Christmas tree
was to simply wander off into the
woods and pick out the best-looking
big bush in the forest Further argu-
mont finally convinced the owner of
the feasibility of the plan and as a re-
suit he shipped several boat loads of
/ huge trees into the Boston market
They were soon gobbled up by eager
! buyers and Christmas tree industry
was established At about the same
! time German farmer living along the
! Hudson, hauled a wagon load Of trees
4 into New York and paved the road
for the enormous business that is am
nually transacted in trees in the
metropolis.
A Thriving Industry.
From that time on the industry has
! been assured, as Christmas trees have
come to be a most necessary adjunct of
the holiday celebration. The business
is also thriving as land that is Of no
value for farming purposes now pro-
| duce enormous quantities Of fir trees
every year. Indeed many farms in
! Maine are entirely devoted to the
/ raising of Christmas trees and the
/ produce finds ready sale in all the
eastern cities Il is estimated that the
United States uses 100000 trees every
year and of this number 800 600 are
consumed in the east. The return in
money of the tree to the grower is ex-
ceedingly low although I'm New York
city the price jumps to an amount that
sometimes nets one dollar for every
foot in height of the tree.
! All conifers are suitable for Christ
mas trees but the most popular are
the frs and spruce, while to a less
extent are tho pines and cedars Prob
ably the most widely used in this sec
tion is the balsam AR pine. which
/ grows In great abundance IN Maine
Inc development of the tree requires
! fifteen years but at the end of that
time, with particular care, the owner
realizes at least $1,000 per acre every
| year.
Trees Sold in Wilmington.
The imported trees which come into
Wilmington are for the most part from
the Maine region. although many are
shipped from the Adirondacks They
consist mostly of the balsam fir This
variety while probably not so bushv
as the standard Pennsylvania small
pine tree has an excellent quality I'm
the power Of the needles to remain
on the twigs. Several car loads of
Maine trees, were sold IN this city.lagt
year and In all probability an equal
number Will go again this season. The
cars contain from 500 to 900 trees
In addition TO these numerous sled
loads Of native pines and snruce are
sold on the market. Many Whining
tonians employ the primitive method
Of securing their tree by visiting a pine
woods with an axe. In recent years
the small stand tree has become nuite
popular in Wilmington. Many deal
ers make a special effort to secure the
young trees as they have as ready
sales as the larger and more expen-
sive frs.
"Tree of the Christ-ChHd.-
The tradition of tho first Christmas
tree is a pretty story, handed down.
year by year. from the eighth century.
IL was bleak cold December night
when st. Boniface wandering through
the wilds of what Is now Germany
came upon a band OF pagans who were
IN the act Of sacrificing a young fair
haired boy by FIRE at the foot of the
thunder oak" sacred to Thor. sud
denly breaking through a thicket ST
Boniface confronted the astonished
pagans and liberated the captive. He
chopped down the oak and then told
them the story Of the new religion
Christianity. His eyes fell upon a
young ar tree, standing straight and
green with its top pointing toward the
stars, amid the fallen ruins of the
oak. This" he said. "is the living
tree with no stain of blood upon IL
/ This shall be the sign Of your new
worship. Lot us call IL the tree of
the Christ-child" With this the pa
gans took up the fir and returned to
the hall Of the chieftain. where thew
continued their celebration under a
NV rEimo