Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-10
Christmas Greens
Ry Frederic ]. Haskln

Washington, ID. 9. Dec. o One phase
of the approaching holiday season Of
which probably few people think ~ the
strain It's put upon the forests. At tbis
time millions Of Christmas trees are being
cut and shipped 10 the towns and cities,
and thousands Of carloads Of holly, mistle-
toe and some other evergreens are going
to the same destinations. Literally whole
forests march into the towns, and glad
den them for q while with the stimulating
odors and col0rs Of spruce, pine and holly.
Every year the forest service receives
large number Of letters from jealous
conservationists who point ont that the
forests Of the nation are being deapoiied,
and who demand that the national gov
ernment take some action TO stop the
destruction Of small trees for mere pir-
poses Of decoration and holiday making.
They assert that this use of evergreen
trees is merely wasteful
The Forest Service does not aUee
II takes the view that the trees wore made
to he used, and that those which serve
as Christmas trees aro fulfilling an I'M
portant purpose. They are not convert
cd into lumber, but they are converted
into happiness and beauty, which are
also important products.
FIVE MILLION CHRISTMAS TREEs
Nevertheless, the experts have made
study Of the situation. They have
estimated that about five million Christ
mas trees are consumed IN the United
States every year That sounds like a
good many, but when you are told thst
all Of them could be grown on iive-thous-
and acres Of land, you realize that the
amount Is relatively not very large after
all
Christmas trees are Of many different
kinds, but all Of them are couifeTous or
evergreen trees In the East the best
Christmas trees arc sprJlcfs, while IN the
Rocky Mountain region the Douglas fir
is the favorite tree But many other
varieties are used In the middle At
lantic States for example, a great many
pine trees and Some frs arc cut by farmers
and hauled 10 town where they are pur-
chased by people who cannot afford the
more expensive sprIccs that come by rall
from New England Or from the Allegheny
mountains. Some jumpers or cedars are
also used in the east Most Df 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 }ip to trees fifty feet high and
used as municipal Christmas trees and
for other communal Christmas gatherings
held out Of doors The cheapest trees
are the little pines and jumpers cut near
The towns and brought in wagons, often
to be peddled about the stres,s. These
are the Christmas trees Of the poor
children The children Of the nch often
have expensive foreign trees, such 81 the
Norway spruce, which has been grown
IN nurseries for this express purpose
carefully trimmed and trained into models
Of perfect symmetry, and sold TOR fancy
prices
The forest experts say that very little
damage would be done by cutting of
Christmas trees if the thing we're done
properly. The farmer often skins
his wo0dlot. taking every tree Of suitable
size for the Christmas market. ms IS
wasteful. Only 4 part 81 the trees
should be cut leaving enough TO furnish
seed for q new stand Thick places
should be thinned and Isolated trees
should be left standing.
There are some parts of the United
States to which Christmas trees have 10
be brought long distances. Ia New
England and the AXE States, of course.
they are abundant, for TINS i the very
heart 81 the spruce-gr0wlng regOn.
There are plenty Of Christmas trees all
through the east, though the farther
sou.h YOU 20, the more scarce spruce
becomes and the more Of pine ana hemlock
Is used The Rocky Mountain region is
best-suppiled oi ali, for there trees are
MANY and people few. Perfect Christ
mas trees are within the reach If all
But in the middle west-osp specially ID
Iowa and Nebraska there are prac-
ticailv no indigenous conlfaTs Some
have been planted bv the farmers To form
wind breaks on the prarle farms. and
these valuable hedges come IN Tor IudIcIous
trimming 1T Christmas time But hey
bv no means supply the demand. Most
Of the middle western Christmas trees
travel hundreds ri mlles by freight, and
are corre spondlngly expensive before
they reach the CONSUMER.
Buy rRsEs II MARKET.
1t used 10 be the custom for everyone
20 20 into the woods ana cIt his own
Christmas tres; but now all except the
country people buy their trees at market
lust IS they buy their Christmas turkeys
Thereby they miss one Of the most ex-
hilar4uQg and pleasant things connected
with the Christmas tree business; for
there IS great satisfaction in going into
the winter woods with an axe. selecting
q Christmas tree 10 YOUR liking and cut