Ashland weekly tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1919-1924, 1920-12-15
MILLIONS OF
CHRISTMAS TREES
CUT ANNUALLY
Equals Number Used in England,
Scotland and Wales Combined
In the United States the Variety
of Trees Used Varies with the
. Locality.

The United States uses annual,
between four and five million Christ
mas trees, according to the estimat
Of the Forest Service, United State
Department OF Agriculture. Thi
equals approximately the combined
consumption of England, Scotland
and Wales Is about rs per ct. create
er than that of Germany. The Christ
mas tree bears the same fruit thu
country over, but the variety of thu
tree itself varies according to local
ity. The fir is undoubtedly thu
Christmas tree par excellence, or
account OF its long, horizontal
spreading, springy branches, ant
deep-green, fragrant foliage which
persists longer than that OF any othel
evergreen.
Very commonly the question Is
raised as to whether the cutting ant
use of these trees for Christmas pur
poses is not great waste, and
whether steps should not be taken
to discourage or prohibit 1t. In
the opinion of department officials
the custom is so old, so we'll ground
ed, and so venerated, that even II il
were economically somewhat inde-
fensible, these aspects will and
should continue to outweigh econ
Omlc considerations. 1t is denied,
however, that pure economic con-
sideratiOns would lead to the aban-
donment of the Christmas tree Gus
tom. Trees are for use, they argue,
and there is no other use to which
they could be put that would con-
tribute SO much to the joy of man
kind as their use by children on this
one great holiday Of the year. Fur
ther, particularly in the Northeastern
States, large proportion of the
Christmas trees are cut from pasture
lands on which they are encroach-
ing or from land which could be
cleared up in the ordinary course of
farm improvements. The trees
would be cut in any event. A mar
ket for them gives the owners some
return for their labor If nothing
more. 1t is true that in the vicinity
OF large cities the Christmas tree
supply is sometimes secured In such
a way as to be destructive of young
growth. This, of course, should be
discouraged.
That the use of Christmas trees is
perfectly compatible, however, with
the welfare of the forest is fully
proved by the practice in the Euro
pean forests. The cutting of small
trees for Christmas is not there con-
sidered in the least as a menace to
the forest, but as a means for i'm
proving the forest and source Of
revenue, and is therefore constantly
encouraged. It is not by denying
ourselves the wholesome pleasure of
having a bit or nature in our homes,
forest officials say, that we shall
preserve our forests, but by learning
how to use them wisely and properly.
The following rules are laid down
by the Forest Service for the wood
land owner who wishes to improve a
rather dense stand of evergreens and
market the good trees for Christmas
purposes:
% Find market for Christmas
trees Of the species which are grow
ing on your land.
(2) Go through the woodland
carefully, pick out and mark the
most vigorous specimens of trees.
These should be allowed to remain
to form the mature stand of timber.
(3) Mark for removal the trees
which are erowding these better
specimens.
(D Cut as many of these infer
ior trees as there is a suitable market
for. Cut them carefully to avoid
damage to the remaining trees.
80 Remove them carefully from
the area and market shem in accord
ance with instructions from the buy
er to avoid any cause for dispute.