THE PLANT WORLD 65 



horses attached to a hayrack, makes up a load of the bundles and hurries 

 off to the nearest wharf or railroad station. From there the trees go to 

 the wholesalers in the large cities in bulk, to be disposed of in lots to suit 

 the retailers. 



"Although the trees are necessarily bulky and expensive to ship, 

 there are large profits in the business, for it is a very poor acre of fir 

 land which will not yield 5,000 trees, and allowing $10 an acre for stump- 

 age, $30 an acre for labor and cartage, and $50 an acre for freight, the 

 trees do not cost two cents apiece delivered in Boston or this city. The 

 price of the smallest tree in the cities seldom if ever falls below 25 cents — 

 ascending from that sum to a maximum of about $5 — so it may be 

 readily seen that so long as they can find customers, the men who handle 

 Christmas trees are in no danger of becoming poor. 



But the benefit which accrues to the Pine Tree State from this sell- 

 ing of Christmas trees is by no means confined to the dollars which come 

 from labor and stumpage. Land grown up to firs is not only worthless 

 from the lumberman's point of view, but it must be cut over and burned 

 before anything else will grow on it. Prior to the development of the 

 Christmas tree industry fir lands were so entirely valueless that they were 

 held exempt from taxation by the town assessors. When, however, the 

 tree hunters came along and removed the incumbering growth the farmers 

 were encouraged to burn off the denuded hills and sow grass seed among 

 the ashes. In this way were acquired fine pasture lands, and eventually 

 mowing fields which afforded food for many herds of cows and sheep. 

 Thus thousands and thousands of acres have been reclaimed, and every 

 Christmas contributes heavily to the increase of Maine's taxable basis. 



Fir trees are not the only Christmas greens which come from the 

 Pine Tree State. Deep in the pine woods among resinous needles and 

 broken limbs, there grows a creeping vine-like plant known commonly 

 as the ground pine and termed by the botanists, lycopodium. The giant 

 lycopodium of the coal strata is identical in structure with this creeping 

 evergreen. Every fall the country children go to the pine woods and tear 

 up great stacks of ground pine, which is afterward sorted, pressed into 

 boxes or sacks, and sent to the cities, where it is used in making wreaths, 

 festoons and streamers for auxiliary holiday adornment. 



" The coral-red berry of the wild raisin which grows by fence sides 

 and on waste land all over Maine is not so imposing in its festive appearance 

 or as renowned as the English holly, yet it is a much-sought article for 

 Christmas decorative purposes. The boys and girls in the country dis- 

 tricts scour the pastures and commons for these plants every November, 

 bind them in artistic little bundles and pack them in boxes for shipment. 

 The sale of Yuletide berries and such minor accessories bring to the 

 children of Maine between $2,000 and $3,000 every year." 



