The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Floral Edition 



Vol. XLV. 



PETERBORO, ONT., DECEMBER, 1922 



No. 12 



The Christmas Tree and Its Uses 



THE most Christmassy of all Christ- 

 mas greens, or of anything else that 

 has to do with Yuletide, is the 

 Christmas tree. Even "hanging up your^ 

 stocking on a Christmas night," filled as 

 is it with sentiment then — and with 

 other things later— does not seem to 

 most folks, young or old, quite so Christ- 

 massy as the good old tree. Holly and 

 mistletoe and other kinds of greens the 

 family must have, to be sure, if avail- 

 able, as well as wreaths and garlands and 

 lots of other things for decorating, but 

 all these delights and all the feasting and 

 all the merrymaking are not appreciated 

 quite so much as when centred in a tree 

 tlmt bears the gifts of Santa Claus and 

 the home fofl<s. iSweet with the fresh 

 scent of the wild woods, the Christmas 

 tree brings into the home from the out- 

 side world deep breaths of sentiment and 

 romance. It is the Christmas green of 

 gladness. 



Every Home its Christmas Tree 

 We hear much, sometimes, about the 

 cutting and shipping of Christmas trees 

 depleting our forests; but, every home 

 simply must have a Christmas tree, re- 

 gardless of it's origin. It is part of the 

 birthright of childhood and should be 

 denied to none. In it's associations and 

 traditions are centred the joys of the day 

 and the memories that are cherished 

 throughout the year. It plays the most 

 conspicuous part in the all-pervading 

 fun and frolic of the occasion. No better 

 use can be found than in giving joy to a 

 little child. If it takes millions of trees 

 to give joy to milhons of children, they 

 must be found somehow. But in some 

 places the finding is a problem. 



In olden times, each family supplied 

 u s own tree directly from the woods. 

 To-day, in the settled parts of the country 

 it is not an easy matter to find the ideal 

 tree — well-shaped and six to ten feet 

 high. But most folks who live in the 

 country will find the way. If a tree is 

 not available at one's own door, or within 

 walking distance, one can take a rig or 

 an automobile and drive to the woods 

 and not only get a tree of .some kind — 

 fir, spruce, pine, hemlock, cedar or other 

 species — but also load up with many 

 other wonderful decorative things that 

 may be found there, if one looks well. 

 Branches and clippings from the large 

 evergreens will be useful for general de- 

 ronttini' hkI for making into little imita- 



A. B. Cutting, Toronto, Ont. 



tion trees, for purposes that will be men- 

 tioned in a moment. Pine cones and 

 tufts of pine needles may be gathered. A 

 few armfuls of ground pine, or club moss 

 (lycopodium), will be needed for festoon- 

 ing and for making into wreaths. If 

 mountain laurel can be found, a few 

 branches should be included. And one 

 should make a special search for plants 

 and shrubs that have .colored, especially 

 red, berries, such as red elders, winter- 

 green (boxberry or checkerberry) , winter 

 berry (black alder) and, if one is fortunate 

 enough to be in such a locality, partridge 

 vine (squawberry), a little herb creeping 

 over the ground, with bright evergreen 

 leaves and scarlet fruits. At least some 

 of these things many folks may get by 

 going after them. Other folks, not so 

 fortunate, might send to a friend who 

 lives where they are and ask that a barrel 

 of greens and a Christmas tree be sent. 

 A Wide Assortment of Greens 

 City folks have their trees and other 

 greens delivered with the groceries, or 

 from a florist. They have a wide assort- 

 ment from which to choose. Much of 

 the material comes from the United 

 States, especially from the south. Wild 

 smilax, leucothoe (branch iv>'), galax 



leaves (colt's foot), and many other 

 things in branches, sprays and sprigs, 

 singly and in bunches, and in wreaths 

 and ropes, to say nothing of trees large 

 and small by the thousand, are in the 

 stores for a month before Christmas 

 waiting for customers. Some of this 

 material is just as useful in country 

 homes as in city homes, if one wants a 

 wider range of decorative material than 

 can be secured in our native woods. 

 And there are many kinds of plants, 

 mostly greenhouse, that may be pur- 

 chased, if a still wider assortment is de- 

 sired. Among the most useful at this 

 season are Jerusalem cherry, poinsettias, 

 azaleas, cyclamen, begonias, primulas and 

 potted bulbs. Artificial poinsettias are 

 almost as pretty as the natural, and just 

 as serviceable. 



Holly and Mistletoe 

 But of the Christmas greens not avail- 

 able in the woods, the most important 

 are holly and mistletoe. Holly is pre- 

 eminently the time-honored indispensable 

 evergreen for Christmas. In Canada, we 

 have no true native holly, but a closely 

 allied species is the winter berry, already 

 mentioned. English holly is imported 

 occasionally, but in such small quantities 



HApfff Hours for the Chrlldrcn 

 A Wading Pool in the Driving Parle at Dundos. Ont. This is an example of thoughtfulnesa that might well be 



copied by many other municipalities. 



