68 —Unc«sttr Farming, Saturday, November 14,1981 Penn UNIVERSITY PARK - Spurred by nostalgia and the prospects of seemingly easy profits, hundreds ot Pennsylvanians in recent years have considered, or tried, growing Christmas trees. "Many people are in for a rude shock or worse, a severe monetary loss,” says James C. Finley, a Penn State instructor of Extension forest resources, who gives advice and aid to the Commonwealth’s 350 to 400 commercial Christmas tree growers. “Too many neophytes think they only need plant seedlings, wait eight to 10 years, depending on species, and begin harvesting an annual Christmas tree crop. “Few such would-be en trepreneurs bother to leam the realities that make growing Christmas trees a time consuming, risky financial ven ture.” Since Christmas trees—properly grown, nurtured and marketed— can be profitable, Finley is trying to warn would-be growers to seek professional advice before they begin This may prevent a new group of people from suffering the fate of many Christmas tree growers of two decades ago. In the early 19605, Pennsylvania was the nation’s largest Christmas tree grower, annually harvesting about 4.5 million trees. However, State forester offers advice to would-be Christmas tree growers for a variety of reasons—a major one being that 20 to 30 percent of the nation’s Christmas tree market had been captured by artificial trees—Commonwealth growers found themselves with too many trees. Many growers lost money, and the state’s Christmas tree production began a dramatic declme. Nevertheless, Finley says, then, as now, high quality trees were in short supply. While about 30 million live Christmas trees are sold annually in the United States, the highest demand—and price— are for cone-shaped trees with thick, even foliage. What trips up many would-be growers, Finley cautions, is the “fine quality” proviso: quality Christmas trees are produced by dint of foresight, planning and hard work—not to mention a bit of luck. • Then there’s the financial in vestment. “Many neophytes overlook this aspect,” says Finley. “Not only must they buy seedlings, but for the first decade or so, they’ll get no profit and their land will be tied up. “Other realities are the tune and money needed for maintenance. Many novices are unprepared for the disease or insect problems that can decimate or severely damage entire plantations. Few know of the destruction done by weather, birds, rodents, or deer, or of some trees’ inability to adapt to a site. Often, only 40 to 6C percent of a grower’s trees are marketable.” Many new Christmas tree growers don’t know that, for op timum tree growth, the land must be limed and fertilized. Pesticides must be applied annually to minimize predator and disease losses. And expensive machinery is needed to spray the trees, to mow weeds and ,o harvest and transport the crop. Finally, to increase the number of forth quality trees, each tree must be. i oned and shaped at least five times during its growth cycle. Also, to be successful, growers must avoid common mistakes: such as mixing certain species, thereby encouraging pest growth; Make his Holiday Happy. Make it Husqvarna This Husqvarna is the work of one design engineer. He spends a lot of time engineering it. And a lot more time out in the woods working with the prototype. He may decide it needs to go back to the drawing board When he’s satisfied himself he's satisfied the toughest critic he has That’s why the Husqvarna chain saw you buy will exceed your expectations Because it’s not created by the com promise of a committee . it’s built on the integrity of one man @1 Husqvarna The Chain Saw Professionals. AMOS I. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers