The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1911-12-23
Moreover, the owners Of the land are
f..l a. h. Inc nf only

Moreover, the owners Of the land are
careful to permit the cutting of only
a certain percentage. The right to cut
and gather the trees Is usually let out.
and the farmer always imposes such
protective measures as will prevent the
deforestation Of his land.
In Maine the cutters usually work In
gangs Of four. At the head of each is
generally a shrewd Yankee who knows
every detail of cutting the right trees
and Of getting them off to market in
just the proper shape.
He has been working for the children
Of the United States for years. and he
protects the forest so that he may con-
tinue to realize money from 1t for
years to come.
Selecting the tree Is fine art. The
farmer knows that lie has little chance
to sell tree that has not grown even
ly. A crooked Christmas tree cannot
be given away.
Those who have forests Of Christ
mas trees do not dare crowd them.
Trees naturally look upward to the
light and must be close enough togeth-
er to keep their tops reaching up and
yet far enough apart not to be dwarfed.
This is the Christmas tree art in
nutshell. The American youngster is
tyrant who must be pleased and who
is just as particular about his Christ
mas tree as everything else
The Christmas tree man pays at)the
rate of about so cents q bunch for his
trees, and there are five in u bunch.
When the owner Of the forest has sold
out his stock ut this figure his inter-
est in the transaction is done!OHe has
nothing to do but count his money.
The first Of the army working for
Young Americas Christmas has been
paid, but the gathering and transport
ing of the trees have only been started.
The cutter and his staff are next
The boss selects his tree by its top.
He points his AK at that spot which
will give him short stem, with SYM
metrical branches about 1t. This tree.
fifteen feet tall from bottom to tip. Is
placed on t-estle. The butt is sawed
off smoothly, painted so that the sap
will not run out. and the branches are
carefully bound together to form a
compact bunch, particular care being
taken to protect the tip, on which de-
ponds to large extent the value of
the tree. A gang of four. working to-
gether, can clear up q remarkably
large tract of woodland In a surpris-
ingly short time.
Then the boss pays OF his three as
.sociates.
The second force of the army work
ing for the American child is thus dis
posed of.
A Christmas tree takes Eve years to
grow. The woodman who raises them
can count on going over tract Of land
once every FIVE years. This year he
takes his boy of Eve with him. Five
years from now he takes the boy
again, lad who can be helpful. Five
years later the boy begins to chop for
himself In the same spot, and still Ave
years later he is beginning to count
upon the proceeds of the Christmas
tree from this piece of land and Is
reckoning upon starting little chap
of his own in business.
Thus from generation to generation
there is always certainty that any
gaps In the ranks OF the tree gathering
army can always be quickly filed.
The first two stages OF the gathering
are not costly. The big expense of the
Christmas tree is in getting 1t to mar
ket.
From the forest the trees go to the
big railroad and steamboat ccnters OH
wagons, sometimes drawn by dozen
horses. The men who do the hauling
realize the third Of the expenditures It