814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 2,1989
Legend Of The Christmas Tree
BY RANDY WELLS
Indiana Co. Correspondent
In the next few weeks, four out
of five families will travel as far as
ten miles from their home to buy a
fresh evergreen for their Christ
mas celebration, according to a
Penn State University study. The
most critical requirements for the
discriminating tree buyer will be
that the evergreen have a straight
trunk, pleasant fragrance and a
attractive symmetry.
But according to the study,
nearly half of the buyers will have
no idea what type of tree they’ve
purchased.
The buyers will, however, be
continuing a mid-winter tradition
which some historians say dates
back as far as the ancient
Egyptians.
Approximately 1,600 Christ
mas tree growers in Pennsylvania
harvest about 1,500,000 trees each
year. Many of the Pennsylvania
trees are sold at retail lots, but a
substantial number are also sold
wholesale, and end up as the cen
ter of holiday festivities in states
from New England to Florida.
Even though Pennsylvania is
known as the “Christmas Tree
State,” several other states are
major producers, including Ore
gon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Cali
fornia, North Carolina and
Washington. In the early days
most Pennsylvania-grown trees
were scotch pines, but today the
state also produces high quality
Douglas, concolor and Fraser firs,
blue spruce and white pines.
In the five to 16 years needed to
grow a mature Christmas tree, the
evergreen faces many hazards.
During the summer of 1988, many
Pennsylvania trees were stunted or
killed by the drought and extreme
ly hot weather. In the summer of
1989 gypsy moths infested some
species of pines. Insects and dis
eases can also be a problem.
Each summer the trees are
sheared. The careful pruning can
hold back rapid upward growth
and encourage the trees to fill out.
Holes in a tree can be corrected by
clipping a limb, causing a fork to
form with two or more branches
where there was only one before.
In 1988, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture,
Christmas trees had a wholesale
value of about $6BO million, put
ting the tree industry ahead of sev
eral other traditional agricultural
commodities in terms of cash
receipts, such as oat production
($2OO million in 1987). rice ($5OO
million), and sheep and lambs
($6OO million).
Perhaps more than any other,
Christmas is a holiday steeped in
tradition. It should not be surpris
ing the season’s main decoration
has a long tradition as well.
According to the National
Christmas Tree Association, there
are legends of decorated trees in
winter celebrations long before
there was a Christmas.
“Egyptians brought palm
branches into their homes in late
December as a symbol of growing
things,” states a National Christ
mas Tree Association pamphlet.
“Romans trimmed trees with
trinkets and topped then with an
image of their sun god to celebrate
Saturnalia. Druid sorcerers hung
golden apples and lit candles on
oak trees to celebrate the winter
solstice. In the middle ages, the
feast of Adam and Eve was held
on Dec. 24; a fir tree hung with red
apples called jhe Paradise tree was
its symbol.”
The use of an evergreen as part
of the Christian Christmas ccleb-
A family trip to select a live, Christmas tree Is the high
light of the holiday season.
ration is generally believed to
have started 400 years ago in Ger
many and spread to most of north
ern Europe by the 19th century.
The custom reached the United
States with Hessian mercenaries
who came to the colonies during
the Revolutionary War,
The first recorded Christmas
tree retail lot, according to the
National Association, was set up
in 1851 by Pennsylvanian Mark
Carr, who transported two ox
sleds of trees from the Catskill
Mountains to the sidewalks of
New York City.
In the 1850 s, Franklin Pierce
was the first president to set up a
Christmas tree in the White house.
But it was Calvin Coolidge in
1923 who established the National
Christmas Tree Lighting Cere
mony on the White House lawn.
When Theodore Roosevelt, an
ardent conservationist, was
elected president, he decreed there
would be no Christmas tree in the
White House, because he feared at
the rate trees were being cut,
America’s spruce forests were
being endangered. But today,
Christmas tree growsers consider
trees as a harvested crop that is
replaced with seedlings.
Berkey’s Nursery, a Pennsylva
nia tree grower from Spartans
burg, will supply the official
White House tree for Christmas
1989, according to the Pennsylva
nia Christmas Tree Growers
Association.
Originally the family’s Christ
mas tree was cut from a forest, but
in recent years most Christmas
trees have been harvested from
plantations where they started out
as seedlings in neat rows. But a
trend has been developing among
many growers to open their fields
to customers who want to choose
and cut their own holiday tree.
Another trend in some areas is
the purchase of two or more trees
per family. The second tree is
sometimes decorated for a child’s
room or the family recreation
room.
Most consumers will be looking
for a six-to-cight-foot tree, which
may be five to 16 years old.
It takes a special type of farmer,
an especially patient' farmer, to
manage a tree plantation, nurtur
ing and caring for a crop which
cannot be harvested for six to 10
years after it is planted. An entire
field is not harvested at the same
time; it may take three or four
years to clear-cut a field.
But it is a crop which can pro-
vide a significant contribution to
an area’s economy. Indiana Coun
ty tree grower Roy Fleming pro
vided this example of Christmas
tree economics.
Scotch pine seeds which cost
$lOO per pound may grow 20,000
seedlings. The plantation owner
plants, mows, shears and sprays
the seedlings many times in the
years they are maturing.
If the grower can sell 60 percent
of his trees for $lO each, he will
have brought $120,000 in new
money into his county.
Even though more and more
consumers ate buying their trees
at “cut your own” plantations,
most will still be buying their
evergreen at a retail lot. And since
freshness is a main concern for
many tree buyers, the National
Christmas Tree Association offers
these tips on how to pick a fresh
tree, and how to keep it fresh.
Check the condition of the nee
dles by placing a needle between
your thumb for forefinger. Bring
your fingers together. When bent
gently the needle from a fresh tree
should bend rather than break.
As a second test for freshness,
lift the tree a few inches off the
ground and drop it on the stump
end. If outside green needles fall
off in abundance, the tree may not
be fresh.
After the tree is cut and until
you are ready to decorate it, keep
the tree outdoors, but protected
from the wind and sun, keep the
trunk in water. Trees may “drink”
between two pints and one gallon
of water per day.
If the water level drops below
the fresh cut, a seal may form on
the stump, and a new cut may be
ncessary to allow the tree to
absorb more water.
If possible, bring the tree into a
partially heated area such as base
ment or garage the night before it
is decorated, to help the tree gra
dually adjust to warmer tempera
tures.
Unfortunately, most trees are
unceremoniously discarded after
the holiday is over. But the Penn
sylvania Christmas Tree Associa
tion also'has some ideas for recy
cling your tree.
Place the tree in the garden or
backyard and use it as a bird feed
er. Orange slices and other good
ies will attract birds, which can
also find shelter in the spruce
branches.
Since it is biodegradable,
Christmas tree branches may be
(Turn to Page B 16)
See your nearest
INB/V HOLLAPO
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and
Dependable Service:
PENNSYLVANIA
Annvllle, PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RDI, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Beaverlown, PA
B&R Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RD 1, Box 217 A
717-658-7024
Belleville, PA
Ivan J. Zook
Farm Equipment
Belleville, Pa.
717-935-2948
Canton, PA
Hess Farm Equipment
717-673-5143
Carlisle, PA
RAW Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Chambersburg. PA
Clugston
Implement, Inc.
R.D. 1
717-263-4103
Concordvllla, PA
Wanner Ford Tractor,
Inc.
Rt. 202 South
215-399-9615
Davldsburg, PA
George N. Gross, Inc.
R.D. 2, Dover. PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Rt. 283 • Rheem's Exit
717-367-1319
Gettysburg, PA
Yingling Implements,
Inc.
3291 Taneytown Rd.
717-359-4848
Greencaetle, PA
Meyers
Implement's Inc.
400 N. Antrim Way
P.O. Box 97
717-597-2176
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros.
R.D. 3. Box 13
717-896-3414
Hamburg, PA
Shartlesville
Farm Service
R.D. 1, Box 1392
215-488-1025
Honey Brook, PA
Dependable Motor Co.
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273-3737
Honey Grove, PA
Norman D. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Hugheevllle, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc.
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
Lancaster, PA
Lancaster Ford
Tractor, Inc.
1655 Rohrerstown Rd,
717-569-7063
Loysville, PA
Paul Shovers, Inc.
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
New Holland, PA
A.B.C. Groff. Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Oley, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 2
215-987-6257
Pitman, PA
Schrefller Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Ouakertown, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 1
215-536-1935
Rlngtown, PA
Ringtown Farm
Equipment
Ringtown, PA
717-889-3184
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S. Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
West Grova, PA
S.G. Lewis & Son, Inc.
R.D. 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
MARYLAND
Churchville, MD
Walter G. Coale, Inc.
2849-53
Churchville Rd.
301-838-6470
Frederick, MO
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rt. 26 East
301-662-4197
Outside MD,
800-331-9122
Hagerstown, MD
Antietam Ford Tractor
301-791-1200
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton, N.J.
Leslie G. Fogg, Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek
Landing Rd.
609-451-2727 •
609-935-5145
Washington, NJ
Frank Rymon & Sons
201-689-1464
Woodstown, NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308