.ANT W< >RLI> UNDER CARE 



- 5 o5 



cities where evergreen trees can be seen 

 only in the parks. 



Maine. New Hampshire, the Berkshire 

 Hills in .Massachusetts, the Adirondack's 

 and the Catskills in New York arc the 

 sources of supply for New York, Phila- 

 delphia and Boston, and even for Balti- 

 more and Washington. The swamps <>l 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota 

 furnish the markets of Chicago, St. Paul, 

 and Minneapolis. 



The sizes of Christmas trees vary from 

 five to thirty-five feet in height ; usually 

 short-jointed, stocky trees with perfect 

 whorls of branches at the base of each 

 annual growth are the most sought for. 

 The sale price varies, being dependent 

 upon the demand and supply. ( )rdinarily 

 small trees 5 to 6 feet tall are sold for 

 25 cents in the city markets, while a tree 

 from 6 to 10 feet high brings a dollar or 

 more, according to its symmetry. Large, 

 shapely trees are sold in New York City 

 at from $5 to $30 apiece, and trees 35 feet 

 high bring as much as $35 each. The 

 average run of prices is from a minimum 

 of 25 cents to a maximum of $5 for a 

 tree. There is very little profit in the 

 business for those who furnish the mate- 

 rial. These are mostly farmers and own- 

 ers of woodlots who look upon the trees 

 as a gift of nature, and in selling them, 

 consider only the labor of cutting and 

 hauling and not the labor and expense 

 required to grow the trees. For trees 

 which in the city bring 25 cents the farm- 

 ers get about 5 cents or a stumpage of 2 

 cents. Trees sold in the city for $1.50 

 apiece bring them only 15 cents. This, 

 of course, refers only to the large cities, 

 in small towns the demand is supplied 

 by the farmers directly, who cut down the 

 trees and peddle them from house to 

 house. When the market is not glutted 

 the dealers make large profits (200 to 300 

 per cent, on their outlay ) , but when the 

 supply exceeds the demand they are apt 

 to suffer losses and have been known to 

 resort to the destruction of many thous- 

 ands of trees in order to keep up the price- 

 The work of cutting begins in October 

 and trees that have grown in the open 

 are preferred since they have large, sym- 

 metrical crowns. The cut trees are ar- 

 ranged according to sizes, their tops 

 are wrapped with twine to save space and 

 then tied up in bundles of from one to 

 eight trees. They are then hauled to the 

 railroad in hayracks and loaded on plat- 

 form cars. 



The Farmers' War Responsibility. 



BY MR. CLARENCE DUBOSE, DEPARTMENT oF 

 AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, I). C. 



The war has given to the American 

 farmer the greatest responsibility, the 

 greatest privilege and the greatest task 

 any man or any class of men have ever 

 known. 



The American farmer in large de- 

 gree will determine the trend of human 

 history for all time to come, because 

 the enormous ultimate consequences of 

 this conflict rest primarily upon the 

 farmers' production of food and feed to 

 sustain the fighting forces. They might 

 fail even with an adequate food supply ; 

 without it they are certain to fail. 



But in his field, far from the fury of 

 battle, far from either the adventures 

 or the horrors of the firing line, the 

 American farmer will say whether au- 

 tocracy or democracy shall rule the 

 world during the seasons that are to 

 come. 



In a sense the war will be won or 

 lost in the fields, gardens, orchards, pas- 

 tures and hog lots of the American far- 

 mer. 



The hope of the American citizen, 

 not a farmer, also hinges upon adequate 

 agricultural production. Our aero- 

 planes are useless, our guns are spiked 

 and our rifles jammed, our shells are 

 but as harmless baubles, if the farmer 

 fails. This must be understood in all 

 its grim force by every man, woman and' 

 child in America; by farmers and by 

 those who are not farmers. 



With food we can win the war. 



Lack of food will lose the war. 



Whether or not we produce the food 

 depends upon whether or not each and 

 every individual farmer does his level 

 best on his farm — produces its maxi- 

 mum. 



>j; 4: % if. ■%. 



The Consumers' Part. 



But the "agricultural problem" 

 means not merely the production of 

 foodstuffs and feedstuffs and live stock. 

 It means the conservation of the food 

 after it is produced. That puts the 

 "agricultural problem" squarely up to 

 every one from the man on a forty acre 

 field to the man whose fertile lands run 

 farther than he can see ; from the tene- 

 ment cave-dweller to the occupant of 

 the costliest mansion. 



