The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-12-09
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAskIN. Director.
Washington, D. c.
CHRISTMAS GREENS.

phase OF the approaching holiday sea-
son of which probably few people
think. Is the strain 1t puts upon the
forests. At this time millions of
Christmas trees are being cut and
shipped to the towns and cities, and
thousands of carloads Of holly. mistle-
toe and some other evergreens are go
ing to the same destinations. Literally
whole forests march into the towns,
and gladden. them for while with the
stimulating ,odors and colors of spruce,
pine and holly.
| Every year the Forest service re-
ceives q large number of letters from
Jealous conservationists who point out
! that the forests of the nation are be-
ing despOiled, and who demand that
the national government take some
action to stop the destruction of small
trees for mere purposes of decoration
and holiday making. They assert that
this use of evergreen trees is merely
wasteful.
! The Forest Service does not agree.
1t takes the view that the trees were
made to be used, and that those which
serve 2s Christmas trees are fulfilling
an important purpose. They are not
converted into lumber, but they are
converted to happiness and beauty,
(which are also important products.
Nevertheless. the experts have made
a study of the situation They have
estimated that about five million
! Christmas trees are consumed in the
! United States every year. That sounds
like good many, but when you are
told that all of them could be grown
on five thousand acres of land, you
realize that the amount is relatively
not very large after all.
Christmas trees are of many differ
ent kinds, but all of them are conf
ferrous or evergreen trees. In the east
while in the Rocky mountain region
the Douglas fir is the favorite tree.
But many other varieties are used. In
the middle Atlantic states, for ex-
| ample, a great many pine trees and
some frs are cut by farmers and,
hauled to town where they are pur-
chased by people who cannot afford
the more expensive spruces that come
by rail from New England or from the
Allegheny mountains. Some jumpers
or cedars are also used in the east.
Most of the trees cut are very small
ones-not more than two or three
inches in diameter at the base-but
they vary from these sizes all the way
up to trees fifty feet high and large
enough for the sawmill, which are
used as municipal Christmas trees and
for other communal Christmas gath
erings held out of doors. The cheap
est trees are the little pines and juni-
in wagons, often to be peddled about
the streets. These are the Christmas
trees of the poor children. The chill
dren of the rich often have expensive
foreign trees. such as the Norway
spruce. which have been grown in
carefully trimmed and trained into
models of perfect symmetry, and sold
for fancy prices.
The forest experts say that very
little damage would be done by cut
ting of Christmas trees IL the thins.
were done properly. The farmer
often skins" his wood lot, taking
every trees of suitable size for the
Christmas market This is wasteful.
Only part of the trees should be cut,
leaving enough to furnish seed for
new stand. Thick places should be
thinned and isolated trees should be
left standing.
There are some parts of thea United
States to which Christmas trees have
to be brought long distances. In New
England and the Lake states. of
the very heart of the spruce growing
region. There are plenty of Christmas
trees all thru the East, though the
farther south you go, the more scarce
spruce becomes and the more of pine
and hemlock is used. The Rocky
for there trees are many and people
few. Perfect Christmas trees are with
in the reach of all.
But in the middle west-especially
in Iowa and Nebraska-there are prac-
tically no indigenous conifers. Some
have been planted by the farmers TO
form wind breaks on the prairie farms
and these valuable hedges come in for
judicious trimming at Christmas time.
But they by no means supply the de-
rnand. Most of the middle western
Christmas trees travel hundreds of
miles by freight. and are correspond
ingly expensive before they reach the
consumer.
1t used to be the custom for every
one to go into the woods and cut his
own Christmas tree: but now all except
the country people buy their trees at
market just as they buy their Christ
mas turkeys Thereby they miss one
of the most exhilarating and pleasant
things connected with the Christmas
tree business; for there is great sat
isfaction in going into the winter
woods with an ak. selecting a Christ
mas tree to your liking, and cutting
1t down yourself. Some ingenious
propa gandist ought to start a "cut
your own Christmas tree" movement,
although he would doubtless win
scant regard in the eyes of dealers
and farmers who supply the market
demand.
The mistletoe which is so tender1y
associated with the holidays has a very
different standing from the Christmas
tree. in that it is a parasite and ought
to be oxterminated. II ten times as
much mistletoe were brought to mar
ket as is usually brought, it would not
only prove a great stimulus to oscu-
lation. and to all the important results
Observation-Disclosures
5The George M