Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-12-22
BY MABEL WHEELER.

In a spasm of joyous, unbridled en-
thusiasm, I volunteered to relieve the
Christmas shopping burden of my over
taxed family by buying the tree, which
as a rule is purchased at the last moment
in one grand, glorious scramble. Said l ::
This year I will choose the tree with
care 1t shall be the beautiful. straight,
graceful symbol that it should be-"
Remembering that l had noted the
courthouse being surrounded by a forest
| Of evergreen trees, which seemed to have
sprung up overnight. I HE'D myself to
the courthouse yard via the community
electric, preparatory to a hasty dispatch
Of business.
"Hey lady, wanna swell tree?" queried
a ready salesman as I approached the
grounds. ~ gotta peach here. a nice lit
tie CEDAR
Cedar" 1 echoed. "Do want a
cedar? What is the best kind of a
Christmas tree? 1 want a real tree"
A CEDAR SIMPLY
CAN'T BE BEATEN.
He cast his eye over his row Of cedars
and declared in a firm voice that nothing
could beat a cedar, that l would be the
victim of an unprincipled scoundrel If
purchased another species Of tree, which
led me to believe that there were other
kinds o ftrees than those rather drab-
looking specimens displayed by my ready
informant. l assured him that no doubt
he was right but that 1 believed I'd
wander around a little for exercise, and
passed on.
A diminutive, thickly needed tree in a
! neighboring grove caught my eye and
| rushed over to claim it before some other
tree hunter should spot it.
The forester nonchalently took all
wild desire from me by naming the price
Seeing that I was visibly affected he in
formed me that pines were scarce and
that they were a rare species.
about how many feet do you care
for ?" he asked, politely.
''You see we sell 'em for about thirty
five cents foot. OF course, some lumber
| is cheaper'n others, you know. Now
cedars can be bought awful low, but
wouldn't handle cedars. What the classy
folks want is pines. Course, that little
pine is selling for the highest price"
TREE RESEMBLES
WHISK BROOM
Having taken a good look at the tiny
pine which measured in my minds eye
about three feet. I backed away from
the highbrow salesman, thinking, at the
price named, the tree should have been
fiawless mahogany. instead of mere pine
also fancied myself saying to the next
tree man. "Give me about sight feet Of
Christmas tree d."
And lust about the time became
hopelessly bewildered and confused in
mazes of cedars and pines, lost in a
thicket Of evergreens and surrounded by
beIligerent statesmen, 1 spied an old
gentleman wearing a short, white beard
and twinkling eyes whose face looked
vaguely familiar. Sure enough, when 4
came up TO him It was the same old chap
that has been selling Christmas trees
there for years and years.
Hello" I greeted him. "What about
treeT I want the best quality"
NORWAY SPRUCE
Is HIS CHOICE.
There IS only one kind Of Christmas
tree to buy" he answered quickly,
Norway spruce. Here's one. Don't
buy a cedar. not a good shape. and
'Sheddy.' Pines can't be raised here and
shipped trees are never satisfactory-lose
their needles right away. But this
spruce was raised right here in my
nursery. It's thick enough, open enough,
green and lasting-and then look at its
shapel Pretty near perfect, eh?"
Which lei to me being personally con-
Quoted through the little groves If trees
by the stlwart six-foot grandson, and
informed as to the life and habits Of
well-raised Christmas trees. He told me
the Christmas trees which they had sup
piled for the city hall and Federal build
ing. measuring some twenty feet In
height, were veterans, being about thirty
years old. He also told me his grand
father had been in the Christmas tree
business for fifty years and had been
selling in the courthouse ground for
thirty-fve years. l was shown the re-
spective features Of various kinds Of
| trees, and introduced to fat trees, thin
ones, tall ones and dwarfs, all Of the
spruce family. The five-foOt or six-foot
tree is the popular height, 1 was told,