82-Uncaster Farming, Saturday, November 30, 1996
All Gardens
Great & Small
by
York Co,
Horticultural Agent
Tom Bea
CHRISTMAS TREES:
THE GOOD, THE BAD
AND THE UGLY
Celebrate thanksgiving by
thinking green not greenbacks
but a fresh Christmas tree.
Choose a farm-raised tree by
selecting and cutting a tree at a lo
cal Christmas tree farm. For Penn
sylvania grown trees, write for a
guide called, “Pennsylvania
Grown Christmas Tree Guide.” It
identifies Choose and Cut Farms,
retail tree lots, gift shops, and farm
stands. For a free copy, write to:
the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree
Growers’ Association, 44 Cessna
Drive, Halifax, PA 17032.
In Pennsylvania, more than
1,600 Christmas tree farms raise
trees including your favorites:
T-Sbirts - Sweatshirts
;t. f sweat Sweaters -
Made to Order
All Sizes $7.95 to 16.95
*
1 Call M
-' 717-367-9301 (19
To Place Order -v
'Ji- We Ship UPS _
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D & S Sales
or Stop at Saturday Market Between Elizabethtown and
Middletown Next to Entrance of Indoor Flea Market Annex
h * |/|
I
fl3z&
J lyr?
MARKET
North end of Leesport, PA Turn East off Route 61
“WHERE FRIENDS MEET”
Berks County’s Only Weekly Cattle & Swine Auction
Wednesdays at 1 P.M.
Farmer’s Market Every Wednesday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
7th ANNUAL TOY SHOW
SUNDAY, DEC. Bth
7 a - m - t° 3 P> m -
OLD TOYS
new toys
and Much More
JmSSS*3m& Show Will Be Held
* n The banquet Hall
- Also -
Last Flea Market of the Season -170 Spaces Under Rpof
Special Chicken BBQ by Central Berks Lions Club in Center Court Meeting Room
Scotch pine, Austrian pine, Colo
rado blue spruce, white spruce,
Norway spruce, douglas fir, fraser
fir, concolor fir, and balsam fir.
White pine is the only native
Pennsylvania tree. These trees
were cut a hundred years ago as
“wildings” from the forests of
Pennsylvania.
A high quality Christmas tree
starts from a seed collected from
carefully selected wild tree or
from orchard tree. Once collected,
seeds are sown in a nursery bed
and left to grow for 1 to 3 years
before they are lifted and sorted
for field planting.
Five to 25 years after field
planting, depending on species,
Christmas trees are about 6 to 7
feet in height. Christmas tree
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growers raise about 1,000 trees
per acre. The harvest season be
gins in earnest in early November
and continues almost to Christmas
Day.
To purchase the freshest trees
off a tree lot, select the tree during
daylight hours. After looking at
the overall health and shape of all
the trees on the lot, choose one or
two that have especially attractive
green or blue (depending on spe
cies) color.
To test the freshness of the tree,
roll the needles on a branch al
mid-height in your hands. Start at
the branch tips and move inward.
If any needles fall off, the tree is
already dried out Only needles
that fall off near the trunk are con
sidered OK. Also check the
stump. A moist, sappy stump indi
cates a newly cut tree.
The best Christmas trees have a
conical symmetrical shape, a
pleasing fragrance and branches
sturdy enough to hold lights and
ornaments. Only a fresh tree is fire
resistant. Avoid placing near sour
ces of heat (fireplace, radiator, air
ducts, TV sets, etc.). White
spruces drop their needles when
dry, pines do not
If you think someone might be
tempted to cut and steal an ever
green tree from your property,
consider this: Make your trees less
appealing by applying the “ugly”
•nix.
| SA r
)J^Vrtra
SPECIAL
Maklta
Cordless Sat^^^F
(6095DWLE2)
(Extra Special
15% OFF
For Anyone Buying $r
% You Actuallv
« BUY BELOW De'
A You Also Receive '
V Calculator o r
(Sale Runs T
Discount a r
Toys, Gar
Dog Ker
Plumb'
W And '
r
CHRISTMAS & TOOL SALE i
Direct from Factory to
Our Door Saves You
Up to 40% on Tools
Famous Name Brands
Lufkin, Plumb, Stanl
Irwin, Makita, Wiss,
S.K. Exact and Etc.
Special 10% OFF
AND A FREE Mug
For Anyone Buying $150.00
Or More
From December 2nd - 24th
Extra Special
15% OFF
For Anyone Buying $250.00
You Actually
BUY BELOW Dealers Cost!
You Also Receive A FREE Mug,
Calculator or Paper Clip
Sale Runs Dec. 2nd Thru 24th
Discount applies to Peerless Batteries,
Toys, Games, Tools, Cookware, Wage
Dog Kennels, Hot Beds, Water Bowls,
Plumbing, Tobacco Twine &
And All Gifts.
VALLEY ROAD SPEEDER WAGONS
»a MODEL 350-* MODEL 1300-* Small i
\ 10” Air Tires, ' MODEL 175-* U
20”x40” Bed $ll7l 10x175 Wheels, W
SIOQ w/Racka *l7l 1 6”x36” &
w/o Racks $ 152 Be« $ B5 w/Racks %
k without Racks -Will Ship U.P.S. Anywhere In The U.S. (Except Model 1300) - 1,
m You Pay Shipping In Advance Or We Will Bill. Jl
0 LAWN CARTS w/26” Wire Spoke Wheels - *l68 95 ■
I Valley Hardware f
F Feed Carts - Express Wagons - Hardware - Martin Senour Paint - Kendall Motor Oils %
958 Vintage Road, Christiana, PA 17509 j
Ik Hours: 6:30 AM-7 PM, Except Wed., Thurs. 6:30 AM-4 PM, Sat. 6:30 AM-2 PM m
W Special Saturday Hours: 6:30 am-3:30 pm December 2nd thru Christmas V
Heat 2 gallons of water to 63
degrees Fahrenheit and pour it in
to a large container, preferably an
aluminum one. In a separate con
tainer, mix 20 ounces of hydrated
lime with 4 ounces of an antidesic
cant like Wilt-pnrf, until a uniform
paste is produced. Fold the paste
slowly into the water. When the
mixture is an even, lighdy milkly
color, add 2 bottles of pink (or
other brightly colored) food color
Growing Green Manure
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Green manure is a crop
that’s grown and then incorpor
ated into the soil to increase or
ganic matter content and soil fer
tility. According to Susan J.
Goldsworthy, extension horticul
turist, a cover crop is basically the
same as a green manure, but is
also grown to protect against soil
erosion and/or to control weeds in
another crop. Living mulch is an
other term used for a crop grown
with another to control weeds,
shade the soil, and serve other
SPECIAL-Victoria
Strainers $29.95
ing. Blend the mixture until it is
uniform in color.
On a warm, dry day, spray or
splatter the mix onto trees you
want to protect. Rain will gradual
ly wash it off.
The above was written by Tho
mas S. Becker. Extension Agent-
Horticulture. Questions concern
ing this article can be directed to
him at 717-840-7408.
Three green manure crops that
do well when sown in the fall are
hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), crim
son clover (Trifolium incamatum)
and winter rye(Secale cereale).
The first 2 also have the advantage
of being legumes that fix atmo
spheric nitrogen in nodules on
their roots. Generally, green man
ure crops will grow for several
weeks in the fall, remain in the
garden over winter, and be tilled
into the soil in the spring.
got milk?
Paper,
We Have A Good Supply
Of Farberware Cookware
functions of a regular mulch.