The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-12-16
American Forestry Associa.
ton Describes Trees
Used at Christmas
Season

WASHINGTON, Dec 1G-Each holt
day time brings the usual story about the
Christmas trees-where they come from,
how many, and the means used to bring
hundreds of train loads of them to the
markets. But the Christmas tree and the
holly and the other green's which go SO
far toward making the holiday "atmOs-
phere" are doomed to extinction unless
some means are taken to reproduce them.
The state of Vermont alone furnishes
100000 trees for the eastern markets
each Christmas time and, unless means
are taken to conserve and reproduce, the
supply some time will be exhausted. The
American Forestry association has issued
a Christmas tree monograph on the sub
ject. So
green's" it says. lis better fire prevention
methods. Wholesale cutting by vendors
who never go into the woods except at
this season and the 'holdup' prices in big
cities are denounced On the other hand
proper cutting aids the growth of the
larger trees and if properly done is a help.
The holly is being cut by the unthink
ing in a way that borders on slaughter.
and only the right sort of cutting will
save this valued green for the holiday
season.
- Kinds of Fir Trees.
Ten of the - kinds of fir trees found
in the world are native to North America
eight occur in the Pacific slopes and in
the Rocky mountain regions. and only
two are found in the eastern United
States and one of these-Fraser'S fir-is
limited to the high mountains of Virginia,
North Carolina and Tennessee. Most
important in the western group are the
grand fir, Nobel fir. white fir. and red fir.
The basam fir is unquestiOnably the best
known and most widely distributed of
our native frs. 1t is one of the most
beautiful evergreen trees native TO North
America. 1t frequents boys. swamps,
and other wet places. Among its chief
associates are the American larch. arb0r
vitae. black spruce and red spruce. Its
companion species are not many for few
trees can withstand the extreme wet and
Geld condition of our northern bOgs and
swamps. +.es.-
Balsam Very Useful.
The balsam fir is tree which satisfies
many human wants, but the greatest of
all it's gifts is the Christmas tree. As
a Christmas tree it has no superior, and
in many localities no other native tree
has Christmas tree qualities that even
approach it. The European fir, SO COM
mon throughout the many parts of con-
tinental Europe, has many characteriS-
ties in common with our balSam fir. It.
too has been used for centuries as a
Christmas tree. The similarity between
these two trees is very marked, which
may have helped develop our high regard
for the balSam FIR and rate it as the fore
most Christmas tree of the eastern United
States.
ON the trunk of the balsam will be
found a large number Of little blisterlike
sacs of 'baisam. A finger nail will pune
ture the little blisters and there will
flow small quantity of balsam, as clear
as crystal. When refined. this is used in
microscopic slides in our scientific labOra-
tories 1t is used chiefly to attach cover
glass to the slides. Balsam is also re
garcled as an excellent medicine e-
Cones and buds of the balsam FIR are
also very distinctive. The buds are al
most round, about one-sixth of an inch
long, clustered at the end of the twig and
appear to be covered with coating of
varniSh The cones are from two to
four inches long. cylindrical, and stand
erect on the twigS. Their scales fall off
soon after they reach maturity and leave
bare central axis. This is an unusual
habit among evergreen trees. In the
NOrthwoods many collect the leaves and
use them in filing pillows and cushions,
for the leaves when dried emit very fra
grant oder The wood is soft, does not
contain resin passages and ranges in color
from white to brown. 1t weighs about "a
pounds per cubic foot and is used extern
sively in the Manufacture of paper pulp,
crates and packing boxes
20 Kinds of Spruce.
There are 20 kinds of spruce trees
and they occur in every country in the
Northern hemisphere, Eight are native
to North America, three being found in
the eastern part and five in the western
part.
Christmas Holly.
Deep green leaves which are armed
with spines along the margin distinguish
Christmas holly. The leaves are so
bright and they often reflect light as mir
Ors. The small bright red berries are
also a helpful means of Identification in
fall and winter. An old manuscript in
the British Museum states that the Holy
hattie berys as red as any rose Devout
people regard the leaves of the holly as a
symbol of the SaviOur's crown of thOrns.
unfortunately the methods of collect
ing the branches is very destructive. In
many instances the tops of the trees are
cut out completely, leaving nothing but
an erect bare trunk We need the holly
sprig for decorative purposes at Christ
mas, but in order that a future supply
may be insured. special steps must be
taken at once to regulate the cutting in
such a way that all the existing trees may
continue to produce annually an abundant
supply of thrifty branchlets.
The American holly, also called Christ
mas holly and the closely related Europ-
can holly, are linked with our Christmas
traditions. Many people are familiar
with the hOiiy leaves ana berries. put lew
of them know that they grow upon trees
which are common in the coastal plain
regions of the South and found locally az
far north as PENNSYLVANIA and along the
Atlantic coast to southern Maine. While
the Christmas holly may reach height
, Of 20 feet and diameter of > to 3 feet il
Arkansas and Texas. it rarely exceeds
20 feet in height and a few inches il
diameter in the extreme northern par
of its natural range
All Want Mistletoe.
"Of course, nobody. particularly tn,
young folk waits to miss mistletoe. j
is the only parasite plant that is used a
Christmas time IT is sometimes called
tree thief for it gets all its nonrishmen
from the trees upon which 1t lives II
the South one may see thousands of tree
literally festooned with the mistletoe.
sometimes grows in the form of witches
s. .I.... n .ln...,