B2B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 12,1981
LANCASTER:- Does it bother
you to spend money each year for a
Christinas tree that lasts only a
couple of weeks and then must be
thrown out? How about using a live
tree this year that can serve as a
handsome houseplant the rest of
the year and by next Christinas
will be bigger and better than ever.
Two candidates for this job are
foliage plants often used for in
terior decoration and available
from most florists the Norfolk
Island pine and the podocarpus.
Del. Soybean
Board grants
aid program
DOVER, Del. - The
Delaware Soybean
Board announces it will
receive proposals for its
1982 Grant-in-Aid
program through
January 15,1982.
This is the second
year of this farmer-run
self-help program. Last
year the Board selected
twelve projects ranging
from variety testing,
under Delaware’s
conditions, to par
ticipating m an in
ternational soybean
marketing program.
The Board’s chair
man, Joe Hughes, ex
plains that they will be
able to fund proposed
research, educational
and production projects
or that proposed
projects must present
an opportunity for
results that will benefit
Delaware Soybean
producers.
To obtain grant
request guidelines,
contact the Delaware
Soybean Board, Drawer
D, Dover, DE 19901
302/736-4811.
Heart
of Penn
goat breed
will gather
DORNSIFE - The
Heart of Penn Goat
Breeders will highlight
their December
meeting with a covered
dish buffet.
The Dec. 12 meeting is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
at the Lee Zartman
home m West Milton,
Umon County.
The group is slated to
hear Dick Carlson, the
new owner of Pure Goat
Products, Boyerton.
Carlton will be on hand
to answer questions on
commercial goat
dairying.
Anyone interested in
dairy goats is invited to
the meeting and should
contact Roberta
Molard, secretary, for
more information on
covered dishes needed
as well as other in
terests in the group.
Molard’s number is 717-
75ft-8359.
To get to the Zartman
home, take Route 15 to
the Milton exit, left at
ston sign oft the exit
ra' .ip. Continue one
mle past the West
Milton State Bank and
take the first left past
the bank. The Zartman
home is the first double
brick home on the left.
Alternatives
Though perhaps not as traditional,
when decked out with ornaments
and tinsel both make handsome
tabletop Christmas trees, says
University of Delaware extension
horticulturist Charles Dunham.
The Norfolk Island pine isn’t
really a pine at all, but it does have
evergreen needles. These cover
branches spaced regularly around
the trunk like spokes on a wheel.
Each new flush of growth adds
another tier of branches. The most
handsome specimens have five
Christmas Idea
for the Christmas tree
“spokes.” '
“This is one of the most
satisfying plants for use as a large
indoor foliage specimen,” says
Dunham. It requires moderate
light, prefers cool temperatures,
and has. few insects or disease
problems. Its most exacting
requirement is a uniformly moist
soil. “Let it dry out even once, or
overwater so that the soil becomes
soggy, and it will lose some of its
lower branches,” he says.
Norfolf Island pines can be put
outdoors in the summer and will
stand full sun If they're gradually
conditioned to it. In Florida, where
these trees grow outside, they
reach a height of 100 feet. Indoors,
growth is much slower and they’ll
take 10 or more years to reach five
or six feet.
The podocarpus is an upright
evergreen with coarse, yew-like
foliage. It, too, grows outdoors
where winters are milder from
the Carolinas south. "It” one of the
few foliage plants -that isn’t
bothered by an occasional blast of
cold air,” says the specialist. “So it
can-be located in or near an
entrance way.” It likes moderate
light, even moisture and, like the
Norfolk Island pine, has few pest
problems.
A two-and-a-half to three-foot
specimen of either of these'plants
will be priced very competitively
compared to a choice full-size cut
Christmas tree and much cheaper
than a live one. Plants a foot or so
taller will cost considerably more,
however.