Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-12-01
CHRISTMAS FIXINGS.
BY Frederic J. Hsskin

Washington. Nov. ao.--A large part 4
of the State OF Vermont In now prac-
ticelly great Christmas tree farm.
according to the American Forestry
Association, and one which is being /
badly oyerworked This State furnish 4
es annually about 100000 trees for /
decorative purposes. These trees are /
| by far the most profitable crop which |
many hill sections OF the State can /
grow, but unless the cutting is better /
regulated, the association gays. the |
crop will be exhausted. Reforestailon |
of large areas and better fire prOtec- |
| ton are also needed.
The association gives iis a most in
teresting account OF all the evergreen
plants which suddenly invade the cities
about this time Of the year. Christmas
trees, T. says are mostly either frs
! IN spruceE The balsam flr IL unuucs-
iionably the best known and most
widely distributed Of our native frs
It is one OF the most beautiful ever
green trees native TO North America
II frequents bogs. swamps. and other
wet places. The balsam fir Is tree
which satisfies many human wants,
but the greatest Of ell its gifts Is the
lChrlstmas tree. AS a Christmas tree
it has no superior.
The European fr. so common
throughout many parts Of Continental
Europe. has many characteristics In
Icommon with our balsam nr. It, too
has been used for centuries as
Christmas tree
Careful examination Of the trunk of
/. Ia Il L.. aftsag
Of little blsterlike sacs OF balsam. II
one takes knife and punctures them
the balsam will flow freely. This bal
sam when refined, Is used in our sci
, cutinc laboratories to attach cover
: glass TO microsc ope slides. Balsem
, is regarded as an excellent medicine
! In the treatment OF throat and pull
Inonary troubles. Many mountaineers
collect the balsam from the blisters on
the trees and then store II away for
family use. IL is n common practice
I'm the north woods to collect large
:, Quantities OF balsam leaves and use
: them IN filling pillows and cushions
: for the leaves. when dried. emit very
I fragrant balsam odor. The wood is
3 soft, does not contain resin passages
e and ranges in color FROM white "a
. brown II weighs about "a pounds
o per cubic foot and is used extensively
q lly in the manufacture of paper pulp
crates and packing boxes.
There are 20 different kinds oi
a spruce trees in the world. All Of theu
9 are beautiful evergreen trees. Thet
o occur in every country in the north
ern hemisphere. Eight Of them are
a native to North America, three beins
n found in the eastern part and five ir
}. the western part of the country.
4. what Holly IL.
!; The Christmas holly can readily b.
: recognized at all sea sons OF the yea
n by its deep green leaves which ar
'r armed with spines along the margir
The leaves are bright and they ofte
" reflect light as mirrors. The snal
bright. red berries are also helpft
T. means Of Identification in fall an
r. winter. An old manuscript in tn
et British Museum states that the "hOl
p hath berys as red as any rose" Dc
sd vout people regard the leaves Of IN
&C holly as a symbol OF the Savior
& crown OF thorns
The holly wreath is attractive an
popular, but unfortunately the meth
II DDS OF collecting the branches are yer
destructive. In many instances III
IN tops of the trees are cut out con
re pletely, leaving nothing but an ere
n bare trunk. We need the holly spr
for decorative purposes at Christina
IN the American Forestry Associatio
I'D -, 49,. 4, a. ,nat a F,,+,,re. s,,,
ply may be insured, special steps mu
h1 ting in such a way that all the q
isting trees may continue to produ
la' annually an abundant supply
~ thrifty branchlets.
'a' The American holly, also cali
=" Christmas holly. and the closely rela
'h- cd European holly. are linked 4
separably with our Christmas traC
tions. Many people are familiar wi
= the holly leaves and berries. but fe
dn Df them know that they grow up'
trees which are common IN the coast
az plain regions OF the South and foul
'ih locally as far north as Pennsylvan
'4,' and along the Atlantic coast to sOut
@ @'c ern Maine.
on on While the Christmas holly m
VII reach height of so feet and a dian
, ter OF two to three feet in Arkans
- and Texas, it rarely exceeds 20 feet
height and a few inches IN diamet
In the extreme northern part of
- natural range.
- Another Christmas gift of the for
~ Is the mistletoe. 1t is the only pal
o. site plant that is used for adornmt
"a at Christmas time. 1t is sometin
,d9 called tree thief, for It gets all
hOurishment from the trees up
,,r., which it lives. Travelling throughC
or the South one may see thousands
.ya trees literally festooned with
nd mistletOe. 1t sometimes grows in
HI. form of a witch's broom. or one n
% see it dangling down from
branches OF tree in graceful arr
=, II always appropriates for its own
ion velopment the life blood Of the L
ore upon which it feeds.
7 There are more than 400 species
rers mistletoe known in the sworld. NJ
he OF them occur in the tropics.
. IL nearly all of them are parasitic. Ma
nc varieties are found in the Uni
the States. They occur from the coast
aid New Jersey southwark and w'
say ward.
How Mlstletoe Grows.
The mistletoe is so common in
state of Oklahoma that 1t has b
selected as the state flower. IL
the question an -oklahoman about
toi- parasitic plant as a state flower.
I'd: Is likely to answer that II man I
yer. tap maple tree for sugar, and the !
f- al