Evening star., 1953-12-14
Christmas Tree
Selling Grows
Fast in District
Regulations Expand ,
Too, for HondIing
Of 100000 q Year
By Jack Jonas

der Christmas trees if you're in
the business.
BY then, it's nearly time to
start cutting in the north coun-
try for the December market.
And it takes a lot of handling
before the estimated 100000 sold
in the Washington area get onto
the corner lots and into the
stores.
The corner let business par
ticularly has doomed in the past
couple of decades. District reg
ulations governing the business
have grown just about as fast.
But wholesalers warned that
1t takes more than the $40 per-
NIT fee and a desire to make a
fast dollar to get into the Christ
mas tree business.
Selling Christmas trees is a
specialized business" j. o. Har-
riSon, jr.. market master at the
Union Terminal Farmers Mar
ket, declared. unless he has
long-established contact with the
supplers, the man who wants to
sell trees needs a good bit of
cash to begin with.
"He needs to know his trees.
For example. how long have they
been cut? What shape are they
in? Which kinds sell best in
this area?"
Mr.. Harrison estimates that
his market area does 80 per cent
of the wholesale Christmas tree
business in this area and about
half the retail business.
The corner-lot salesman also
has to know what he's about
when he deals with the District.
The Districts central permit
section puts out three pages of
printed instructions to those in
terested.
It's fairly simple to set up on
a private lot. After he gets per-
mission from the owner, the
dealer visits the police precinct
headquarters in the area and
fills out an application. He de-
poSits $40 to insure that the lot
is cleaned after he's finished
with it.
Then he pays a $40 permit fee,
registers for sales tax, and is in
busineSS-provided he has or
dered his trees.
Insurance, Too.
Setting up on public property
is a little more complicated.
Permission is needed from the
Commissioners.
After complying with all the
other regulations, he has to take
out insurance for benefit of the
District. This ranges from $4,000
to $4,000, depending on the
number of places he does busi-
ness.
He also needs written permis-
sion from the tenant on the
property next to the public land.
The District provides a sample
form which can be followed in
getting this permission.
Applications for permits start
coming in around the middle of
November and are taken and
processed up to the day before
Christmas. according to Bernard
H. Benson of the central permit
section.
up until this year, we got
applications all through the
year." Mr.. Benson said. But
now we don't take them until
November l."
Summer ordering of trees
gives the suppliers an idea of
how many will be needed, Mr..
Harrison said. In Canada and
in Vermont, from where most
of the Districts trees come, they
are stored in refrigerated build
ingS. The cutting continues on
up to the first of December.
Norway Spruce First.
The trees start coming in late
in November. At the Union
Terminal Farmers Market, about
half of them come in railroad
cars and the remainder by truck.
Mr.. Harrison said Washington
seems to be unique in its prefer
ence for Norway spruce, with
balSam ranked second. In other
areas, balSam Is preferred. The
Norway spruce comes to Wash
ington from Vermont. principally.
Norway spruce is more
shapely tree, but its needles fall
sooner. BalSam holds it's needles
longer, but it's difficult to find
one as well shaped as the spruce.
Most of the balsam comes from
CANADIAN Scotia, New
Brunswick and Quebec.
Also-rans include the pines
Scotch, white, red and yellow. A
few Western fir and Douglas fir
come in from the West Coast.
Railroad cars carry an eSti-
mated 1000 trees each. About 40
carloads are expected at the
Union Terminal Market before
the season ends. They are tied
in bundles of from one to nine
trees each.
The wholesalers and retailers
normally are people who are in
some other business the rest of
the year. A lot of them are bay
fishermen who abandon their
nets during the Christmas sea-
son. Others are wholesale grocerS.
Many are farmers.
Decorations on the Side.
Decorations provide a Sizable
side business. These include holly
from Maryland. Virginia and the
Carolinas: miStletoe from swampy
areas such as lower Virginia and
the Gulf States, and standing
cedar, a short bushy plant used
for wreathS.
The people who deal in Christ
mas trees are always dreaming