56 



ARBORICULTURE 



Christmas Trees a Growing Evil, 



A^l^lIIS is an opportune time for the 



I consideration of the effects of our 

 ill-advised practice of Christmas 

 tree decorations is going to have upon 

 the nation. In a few days the ax will be 

 in use throughout New England, and 

 wherever evergreens are growing, cut- 

 ting by the million, to be shipped all over 

 the land for the holiday trade. 



The fad which has taken such a hold 

 upon Americans, of celebrating the birth 

 of Christ by sacrificing the lives of a 

 million handsome, thrifty young ever- 

 greens, should be abandoned. These 

 trees are needed to supply this nation with 

 lumber and timbers, and it is a crime 

 to cause such destruction as occurs every 

 year at Oiristmas time. 



The I 'crmont Phoenix a year ago said : 

 A large number of small spruces and 

 firs, at least 12,000 to 15,000, cut in Marl- 

 boro, have been drawn to the railroad 

 station at Brattleboro this week for shi])- 

 ment to Philadelphia for the Christmas 

 tree trade. The Philadelphia dealer who 

 makes the shipment pays a stated sum 

 for the trees on the stump and hires them 

 cut and drawn. The trees are sawn off 

 close to the ground, and tied in biuidles 

 closely bound with stout twine. A car 

 piled high will ])robably carry 2,000 to 

 2,500 trees. The men employed in the 

 work say that the farmers get '"a dollar 

 a load," which means a dollar for about 

 200 trees, half a cent apiece, five dollar.^ 

 for a thousand. (Jn a liberal estimate of 

 the cost of cutting, drawing, shipping by 

 rail, and storage and handling in I'liila- 

 delphia, or any other city, it is a])parent 

 that the cost per tree to the ilealers can 

 hardly exceed 15 or 20 cents a tree. The 

 Pliiladel])hia flealer saifl in conversation 

 that he "should not consider himself a 

 salesman" if he could not get five dollars 

 apiece for the larger trees. A fair mar- 

 gin of profit surely between grower and 

 consumer ! 



The work of cutting these young trees 

 for the city Christmas trade has been go- 



ing on in other parts of the state for sev- 

 eral years. What this trade means in 

 the way of forest destruction the country , 

 over is ajipalling to consider. These 

 young evergreens are cut in Vermont 

 every year literally by the hundred thou- 

 sand, and the work is doubtless going 

 on in every other section where firs and 

 spruces grow — unless the farmers in 

 other sections are wiser than those of 

 Vermont. We are cutting oft' the grown 

 forests at wholesale to make lumber and 

 paper stock, and at the same time are at 

 .work at the other end destroving the 

 young growth that would otherwise re- 

 place them in part. It is true that in 

 many cases a judicious thinning out of 

 the young trees would be advantageous 

 lo those remaining, but when the ax and 

 saw take everything, as is the custom, 

 the loss is irreparable. And what any 

 one farmer or landowner gets in return 

 for this vandalism is hardly enough to 

 pay him for the tools to do the work with ! 

 This is sad degeneracy from the thrift 

 and far-sightedness of the farmers who 

 made our hill towns and farms what they 

 used to be. 



While we are discussing in a pedagogic 

 way the profit there is in tree-planting 

 and tree-growing as a business pro]X)si- 

 tion, there is need also to discuss this end 

 of "he D'-on-sition- *\i?A of destroying the 

 young growth which nature herself has 

 planted and given a ten or fifteen years' 

 start in life. While Audubon societies 

 and nature classes are showing commend- 

 able zeal in trying to save the birds and 

 the flowers, supi)Ose our practical men 

 of affairs begin to consider what this 

 wanton destruction of young trees means. 



A few thoughtful men in the cities, 

 who see what the trade involves, have 

 been ciilling a halt for two or three years 

 past against the unrestricted use of ever- 

 greens at Christmas. The crusade may 

 yet have U) go hand in hand with that 

 against the wearing of bird plumage in 

 woiuen's hats. 



