Evening star., 1923-12-23
Christmas Trees Bring Yuletide Spirit to Washington

branches the remaining limbs will
turn abruptly upward and will reach
a height of six feet In less than two
years.
If crop of Christmas trees can
be cut without actually destroying
the parent trees and new crops
sprouted within two or three years
the system may lend itself readily to
systematic commercialization and De-
velop into considerable Importance
In the industry. Such opportunities
look feasible In the latitude of the
barefaced sections of Virginia and
Maryland.
II you fail to appreciate the gen.
eral interest in Christmas trees In
washington, take the time to stroll
through congested aisles and side
walks OF Center Market during the
period from the 18th to the 25th of De-
cenber. Tho din and turmoil OF bar
gaining and pickering will make you
think you are in the heart Of an Egyp-
tian bazaar. You will find grave and
disnified Washingtonians elbowfng their
ways through the crowd. determined to
get there early and secure the choicest
tree specimens. That is the CONNER
cial picture OF the barter and ex-
change side of the Washington
Christmas tree proposition.
If you want to become acquainted
with another angle Of the tree" mat
ter in the center and environments OF
i our great White House city, just hop
into your car and roll out through
tho wooded districts which adjoin
Washington one OF these December
! Sundays. All along the wooded way
side you will find automobiles of
| every type and description parked
while their occupants scramble
through bushes searching for suitable
| STRIPPING trees, holly. mistletoe, ferns
and evergreen foliage with which to
decorate their homes.
Conduit road on the long stretch
between Glen Echo and Great Falls
for many years has been a favorite
hunting ground where hundreds and
hundreds OF Washington families
have customArily obtained scrub pine
trees for Christmas week. Usually
there Is plenty OF holly and some
mistletoe to be found in the rugged
~Io IOliiuS NIL lduO5 WHICH are Il6
gateways to Great Falls-more than a
century ago the scene of George
Washington's determined effort to
harness the upper Potomac to the needs
Of navigation.
Conduit road above Glen Echo is
closed at present as consequence OF
the constitutional activities associated
with the building OF the new water
conduit for Washington. The inter-
secting roads and byways which trav-
erse that section. however. are open
to travel, and Washington motorists
are humping over their irregularities
in every possible type OF automobile.
keen in their quest for "catch-as-
catch-can" Christmas trees.
u
A PARTICULARLY appropriate op-
portunity to display the proper
Christmas spirit Is to play fair with
these Virginia and Maryland wood
lots when you journey out after your
Christmas tree. Where the trees are
properly cut no harm is done, but the
tendency Of many is to slash around
through the wood lot like drunken
sailor. running the future prospects
of treelings which, II left undis-
turbed, would ultimately grow into
| marketable timber. A tree selected
for cutting should be one of a group
of trees of comparatively compact
growth rather than a more or less
isolated tree, the absence Of which
would make a decided gap which fu-
ture growth could not fill. This SIM
J pie practice. if followed. prevents the
wooded tracts.
! Objection Is sometimes made TO Sc
! lecting for Christmas purposes q tree
| standing close to others, because the
| one chosen Is apt to be unsymmetrl-
| cal, the lower branches particularly
being irregular and unattractive. This
| difficulty can be overcome by picking
| out 4 tree several feet taller than
the height desired and cutting off the
| lower end. BY using only the upper
portion q well shaped, attractive orna-
ment can be obtained, and simuItane-
| ously q selection Is made which re-
| suits in no harm to the wood lot.
| Very large trees selected for mu-
nicipaI celebrations or church use
need not be symmetrical in their
natural state, as they can easily be
made so by boring holes in the trunk
| and inserting sufficient limbs OF
proper size to give the tree a well
rounded appearance. frequently
where q large tree Is to be carried q
| considerable distance, practically all
the limbs may be cut OFF and then re-
! placed in this manner.