e Bellefonte, Pa.,, November 2, 1928
START PLANTING EVERGREENS.
Whether to plant now a conebear-
ing tree that shall serve this year
and all years to come (and with
greater glory every year as it in-
creases in size and beauty) as the
central feature of the Christmas cele-
bration, or to delay thought about it
until the season is at hand and plant-
ing of any kind is out of the ques-
tion in the northern latitudes, and
to buy from the most convenient deal-
er a tree cut and brought down from
the forest—this is the question I want
to put before you this month. Be-
cause when this issue of the Compan-
ion reaches you, it will be as favor-
able a time of year for setting out
evergreen of the conebearing genus
as it is possible to choose—speaking |
for the greater part of the country.
Of course no horticultural rule holds
in all parts of the world, and special
regions) develop very special rules.
J
It is to be understood therefore that )
- success, since these adapt themselves
1 am speaking always, unless other-
wise specified, of the general average
conditions and places.
There are many things entering in- |
to your choice in this matter; and I
think each of them ought to be real-
ized and weighed,
other, in making a decision. So let
us first examine them all, one by one.
The most important is the person-
nel of the home—of the household—
of course. Is the family group of
such a character that a tree set up in-
doors will bring the spirit and mean-
ing of the festival closer to each one,
or is it a group that will better be
reached with these if the Christmas
tree is a growing one, out in the gar-
den under the sky and sun and stars?
THE INDOOR TREES.
Where there are children there is
of course just onel answer, and that
is the indoor tree. Whatever your
prejudices may be with regard to the
(supposed) wholesale destruction of
whole forests to supply the season’s
demand, no one can deny that a tree
indoors, gay with lights and tinsel
and happy, foolish ornaments, creates
an atmosphere of festivity for which
there is no satisfactory substitute.
So here we score a point—and a pret-
ty substantial one—in favor of the
original Christmas-tree custom.
A further point to be considered
is that the chances of inclement
weather during the holiday period are
fairly large: and there is no denying
that to stand shivering in a winter
sleet and wind around a tree which
is losing its decorations by the min-
ute, is an experience you always hope
you will never have to repeat, if you
ever have had it.
So here are two arguments in fav-
or of the indoor tree—children in the
household, and the likelihood that bad
weather may interfere with cere-
monies and festivities held out of
doors. Then of course there are many
households that have no garden space
in which to plant a tree, and so, what-
ever may be said on either side, are
obliged to make use of the temporary
or annual cut-from-the-forest speci-
men, or go without. And there are
many other households where age or
infirmity of some member makes
participation in outdoor celebration
impossible. The case is strong,
think, in favor of continuing the cus-
tom as it has stood in the past, not-
withstanding the objections raised to
it.
What are these? And how well
grounded are they? And how may
they be met and overcome? Not ov-
ercome in the sense of defied or dis-
regarded, but overcome in the true
sense, which means of course over-
come by resolving them; by finding
the way to correct whatever it may
be that justifies them, without fore-
going the ancient and beautiful cus-
tom altogether: finding the way to
proper use of these young forest trees
without abuse, without actual wanton
tdestruction. :
The point most often raised, I
think, is that cutting the young ever-
greens which find their way whole-
sale into the markets of the great
cities and towns is actually destroy-
ing the forests of the future; and if
this were true, it would be an argu-
ment so strong against the practice
that it could not be met.
But the facts are somewhat differ-
ent from this superficial view; and
while I am willing to concede that
the present system is the proper one,
neither am I willing to contend for
the complete abandonment of it over-
night. The modification of it which
the establishment of Christmas-tree
plantations on land otherwise waste
is bringing about is not so rapid per-
haps as one could wish, though there
are now several such commercial en-
terprises—and it is a movement in
the right direction. Supplementing
this is the application of proper for-
est methods to the selecting and cut-
ting of such trees as may be needed,
so that the whole enterprise gradu-
ally moves toward the desirable equi-
librium of annual production sufficient
to meet demand, with nr waste and
no want.
There is no denying that the same
wasteful methods that are common
generally in our handling of nature’s
provision have been employed in the
Christmas-tree harvest; but forestry
authorities are pretty generally
agreed now that the important thing
is to correct these methods, rot to jects ‘nore significant than almost
{ anything else
‘Feast of the Nativity possibly can.
halt altogether the harvesting. Or, to
quote one of the leading forestry ex-
total supply to attain its maximum.
f course every part of the world
where Christmas trees are used has
its particular favorite for this pur-
pose, and perhaps does not realize
that in other regions a wholly differ-
ent tree may be typical of the sea-
son. But, as a matter of fact, there
are many kinds of trees to be recog-
nized as Christmas trees, ranging
from the broad-leaved and red-ber-
ried Holly so generally used in cer-
tain parts of the South, to the Bal-
sam Fir of the Northeast—the latter
the accepted ideal form and furnish-
ing the markets of the great cities
generally.
Pines, Spruces, Cedars and Hem-
locks are favorites in regions where
they abound; and indeed there is no
reason why any particular genus or
species should be demanded—or ex-
cluded. So in choosing a tree which
is to be planted in the garden, it is
best to select something from a gen-
us native to the locality, if possible,
‘as this will be more likely to thrive
than an exotic kind. Yet there are a
few widespread species such as our
own White Pine and Arbor Vitae and
the alien though now common Aus-
trian Pine and Norway Spruce which
may be pretty generally used with
' to various conditions.
WHAT TO SELECT FOR PLANTING,
Since it is only during their youth
, or comparative youth that many con-
one against the
‘in selecting a tree for planting.
ifers retain the pyramidal form which
makes them desirable as Christmas
trese, this also should be considered
Ido
not mean by this that loss of sym-
metry at twenty to twenty-five years
of age is ground for rejecting a spe-
‘cies, but rather that it may influence
- tion.
1 in its
perts of the country, “True conserva-
tion of the forest is not found in ab-
staining from the use of trees, but in
a rational system of forests man-
agement.”
FAVORITES FOR CHRISTMAS TREES.
‘reproach from which the
And as the trees most in demand :
for the Christmas celebration are
small, the harvesting of them falls
within the legitimate practice of
thinning, which is “an integral part
of forest management.” Tg take out
regularly if not annually a certain
»umber of small conifers where these
occur, is not only under certain cir-
cumstances ‘an advantage to ‘the trees
remaining, but a necessity if these
are to ‘become what ‘is intended. It
is the intelligent use of nature's sup-
ply, in other words, that enable this
‘at the season when they may serve
‘ularly all of the stock or else to root-
the choice of planting site. It is a
factor that ought to be known and
remembered at any rate, especially |
where each year adds a new living
Christmas tree to a garden or collec-
t For the effect of such a plant-
ing will begin to change within ten
or twelve years sometimes, and the !
trees will begin to lose lower branches
and to take on the forms of their ma-
turity—often forms of great beauty i
and most picturesque, but not in the
least like the decorous young pyra- |
mids of their early youth.
Beyond question the ideal solution
of the entire Christmas-tree problem
is two trees instead of one—an out- |
door, permanent specimen, lighted at
night during the holiday period, but
otherwise not decorated; and the usu-
al indoor tree. And the latter also a
living tree, preferably.
So far as I know, no one has yet
suggested here the best practice of
all which, though not perhaps general
in England, was not so long ago the
custom and still is the custom of one
place at least. There the Christmas
tree is dug up and planted in a large
tub; and after the festival is over it
is replanted in its original
marked with a permanent metal label
which gives the date of its distinguish-
ed serviee.
In this instance a different tree is
chosen in the forest annually, and is!
borne from the hall where it has serv- |
ed the family holiday to the school :
for a children’s werrymaking and!
thence to a hospital where it refrésh- |
es and heartens the sick—traveling |
always with its big golden star at the |
very top remaining in place, as well |
as the tinsel “angels’ tresses” tang- |
led through its branches. Finally it:
goes back to the forest and is reset
own place, and is not in the
least injured by these experiences, as
indeed why should it be? We ship
trees many times as far as that, and
keep them out of the ground with
their roots balled with earth and bur-
lap wrapped to hold this in place, for
much longer than the week of Christ-
mas celebrating. And then we se$
them out in earth and surroundings
strange to them; and still they do not
suffer.
Why do we not—those who have
garden space for a few evergreens, at
any rate—substitute for the chopped-
off and already dead tree indoors, or
for the added new tree each year
(which cannot be added indefinitely
without overcoming even a large
place), the rotating use of a group
of three or four; or even of a pair of
managed nurseries to transplant reg-
prune it, since only such frequent dis-
turbance of roots and consequent for-
mation of compact masses of small
roots and feeding thread-rootlets in-
sures the successful handling of the
young trees when they are sold and
shipped to distant buyers. The prop-
er digging up and planting in a huge
box or tub of a young tree every oth-
er year, or every third year, would
correspond to this transplanting or
root-pruning; and would neved do
more than retard growth (mind, of
course, that I said the proper digging
and planting). And retarded growth
is the best possible thing, since it is
only in the growing stage that the
ideal pyramidal form is maintained.
FOR CHRISTMAS RITES.
This system would insure the in-
door tree and the outdoor tree both;
and would provide for the complete
round of the rites and observances of
the season, regardless of weather
and of age or conditions of the house-
hold. It is a little trouble, perhaps;
and of course it demands the careful
handling of the trees, and the atten-
tion of someone who knows precisely
what careful handling involves. Bui
we may say that everything about the
holiday preparations is actually a lit-
tle trouble, and it seems to me that
this is a kind of trouble which brings
connected with the
For this insures the contribution of
only life and livingness; whereas the
chopped-down tree, already dead, in-
troduces the minor note of regret and
season
should be wholly free.
Of course I have adopted this sys-
tem myself; but I have not been car-
rying it on long enough yet to say
with finality how many years it may
be possible to handle a single tree of
a group without injury to it. If the
limit is two or three times, this means
that three trees will serve nine years,
each being given two years rest be-
tween using. Add to this the original
planting when the trees are first ac-
quired (which of course ought to be
place— ||
first as the Christmas tree) and twelve
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Chevrolet Ton Truck, Express body, 5 tires 30x5 ready for
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=
Solution of Last Week's Puzzle.
years are covered. Six to eight or
ten trees therefore will serve a gen-
eration, as those things are reckoned
—and will still be a young and vig-
orous windbreak or screen, if this is
what you have planted to form.
Building Board Made of Straw Helps |
Farmers.
|
Building board is being made from
straw in cereal regions where there |
are no forests, Sidney D. Wells, a
chemical engineer of Quincy, Ill., de- :
Foundation, New York. }
The rise of this process, enabling
the construction industry to employ |
a new material and to make a sub-'
stantial contribution to farm relief,
he attributes to scientific research.
“In the great wheat areas,” says
Mr. Wells, “enormous quantities of
straw are burned annually because it
is too resident to decay to be assimi-
lated by the soil between harvest and
sowing time. Only an infinitesimal
quantity is otherwise utilized.
“Most cereal areas are devoid of
forests and must transport lumber
from distant places. From the be-!
ginning of civilization straw has been ! ¢
used in rural habitations for both |
men and beast, where the fire hazard |
was small. Its capacity for reducing :
the passage of heat has long been rec-
ognized.
“The laboratory learned that few
raw materials, if any, were adapt:d
as straw to the manufacture of insu-
lating board. Its fibers are cemented
together in long filaments, which can
be pounded apart after softening by
digestion at elevated temperatures for
a few hours.
“The proportion of fiber is large;
it is devoid of pith. Only mild cook-
ing is required, and not more than
twenty per cent. is rendered soluble.
Much of the latter is adhesive; it acts
as a strong binder and waterproofing
agent.
“Board made from straw is excep-
tionally strong because the filament-
ous characteristics are retained; felt-
ing properties together with the ce-
menting characteristics of the bind-
ing material form a strongly inter-
woven mass.
“In fabrication in the wet condi-
tion the fibrous mass is extremely
flexible and plastic, but after drying,
it becomes rigid and strongly cement-
ed together.”
——The Watchman gives all the
news while it is news.
Students of Agriculture in Minority.
Of the 142,111 resident students en-
rolled in’ land-grant institutions of
the United States during the school
year 1925—26 more than a third, 34
per cent., were registered for courses
in engineering courses, 9 per cent. in
commerce and business, 8 per cent. in
agriculture, and 7.2 per cent. in pro-
fessional education as shown by a re-
port on land-grant colleges by Walter
J. Greenleaf, associate specialist in
land-grant statistics of the United
States Bureau of Education, published
by the bureau as Bulletin No. 37, 1927.
il clared in a report to the Engineering ' Sl
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Y, JE are in business—not in politics.
But the proposed Loan for State
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voter in Centre County is vitally interested
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this non partisan and meritorious measure.
The College is here but its work is
everywhere.
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BELLEFONTE, PA.
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