Christmas Trees The Industry 



249 



phone pole and fitting small trees into 

 the pipes. The pipes are welded to 

 heavy metal bands ; the bands, in turn, 

 are bolted to the pole at intervals. 



Supply and demand, the species, and 

 the degree to which the trees possess 

 the desired characteristics determine 

 prices. On the basis of prices reported 

 in various sections of the country, the 

 trees produced in a recent year would 

 make a 20- to 50-million dollar indus- 

 try, according to whether values are 

 based on the wholesale or retail prices 

 quoted. An estimate of 6 million dol- 

 lars has been placed on the value of 

 the trees at the roadside or the railroad 

 siding. A carload of trees on a rail siding 

 in Montana represents an estimated 

 80 to 100 man-hours of work. 



The 3 months before Christmas are 

 the busy ones in the industry. In sum- 

 mer and early fall, the trees are lo- 

 cated, the contracts are let, the mar- 

 kets canvassed to obtain estimates on 

 demand, woods labor hired, and plans 

 laid for transportation. The trees later 

 are selected, cut, moved to the woods 

 concentration yard, and then sorted, 

 graded, often tagged, bundled, butt- 

 trimmed, hauled to a shipping center, 

 and then transported to markets. 



A typical large operation will find 

 the harvesting crews in the woods by 

 October, and occasionally even earlier. 

 Ax, hatchet, or pruning saw are the 

 common tools used to sever the stems. 

 The trees are carried or dragged by 

 hand (or occasionally hauled by horse 

 or tractor) to the concentration yard in 

 the woods. One man can cut and yard 

 about 200 trees a day. A wooden frame 

 is used to hold the trees while they are 

 tied into bundles to aid shipping and 

 to prevent excessive drying. A bundle 

 may contain 10 or 12 trees of 4 feet or 

 less, or one large tree. In the rack, the 

 butt ends of the trees are squared to 

 present a neat appearance, facilitate 

 handling, and make the ends ready 

 for use in stands. After cutting and 

 before leaving the woods, the trees are 

 kept as cool and damp as possible, but 

 they must be hauled out before deep 

 snow becomes a handicap. An operator 



in Minnesota harvests almost the year 

 around by placing the trees in cold 

 storage as soon as possible after cutting 

 and processing. 



From the concentration yards, the 

 bundles of trees are loaded on trucks 

 or sleds for their journey from the 

 woods to the rail- or truck-shipping 

 points. The trees shipped by rail are 

 usually loaded into boxcars or flat cars. 

 A carload varies from 1,000 to 4,000 

 trees. A 3-ton truck can haul from 500 

 to 1,200 trees. 



Farmers contribute trees and labor 

 to the industry. In Montana, the sale 

 of wild-grown Christmas trees adds 

 nearly a million dollars annually to 

 the farm income. Farmers favor this 

 forest crop because of the good re- 

 turns for their labor, short rotation, 

 low capital investment, and the fact 

 that the harvest season interferes little 

 with other farming activities. Farmers 

 who cannot market their own trees 

 often sell them to contractors at road- 

 side or rail siding. 



Several Christmas-tree companies 

 handle most of the cut and distribu- 

 tion of Christmas trees. Company rep- 

 resentatives contract with woodland 

 owners or growers for roadside or rail- 

 road-siding delivery. 



Problems of marketing include the 

 impermanence of some operators and 

 trespass by irresponsible persons who, 

 in years when the venture looks profit- 

 able, remove trees without permission. 

 Some States now have rigid trespass 

 laws. Another problem: Christmas 

 trees sometimes are not cut according 

 to good forest practices. Indiscriminate 

 cutting leaves trees of poor quality. 



In some States an effort has been 

 made to develop standardized grade 

 classifications with graduated prices. 

 Careful grading could result in utiliz- 

 ing trees that are not perfectly sym- 

 metrical. For example, a tree to be 

 placed against a wall or in a corner 

 need not be full on all sides. 



Trees cut from national forests may 

 bear a tag with the following state- 

 ment: "This tree brings a Christmas 

 message from the great outdoors. Its 



