WHAT OUR CHRISTMAS TREES ARE 



745 



est beauty along the foothills of the Carolinas. For 

 centuries it has been pushing northward. Progress was 

 made slowly. Each forward step meant the sacrifice of 

 many individual trees that were not hardy enough to 

 withstand the cold winters of the North. It, however, 

 advanced step by step, and with each forward stride be- 

 came hardier and better fitted to struggle for an exist- 

 ence. After many years of struggle it became firmly 

 established in the southern and southeastern part of 

 Pennsylvania, especially along the banks of the lower 

 Susquehanna River. In time it became fairly abundant 

 in this region, and after a few generations of trees had 

 grown up in this region, they produced a young race of 

 baby trees which were quite frost hardy. These in turn 

 produced frost-hardy seeds, which by chance were car- 

 ried by birds or some other agent and dropped upon 

 favorable sites still farther northward. These seeds 

 in turn developed into small trees which in time produced 

 seed with even more frost-hardy characteristics. Thus, 



Courtesy Ainawalk Nurseries 



THE AUSTRIAN PINE 



One of the most beautiful of the ornamental evergreens and 

 sometimes used as a Christmas tree. 



is the history of the Christmas Holly trees that now 

 stand in Dauphin County in central Pennsylvania, which 

 for many years were regarded as the most northern 

 known station of this tree in Pennsylvania. On Decem- 

 ber 12, 1921, a new station of the Christmas holly was 

 outpost is along Chatham's Run, Clinton County, at an 

 altitude of about 600 feet above sea level. Here occurs 

 found fully a hundred miles farther northward. This 



only one solitary specimen. It is the most northern in- 

 land station that is now known. 



The Christmas Holly can readily be recognized at all 

 seasons of the year by its deep green leaves which are 

 armed with spines along the margin. The leaves are so 

 bright that they often reflect light as mirrors. The small 

 bright red berries are also a helpful means of identifica- 



A NEWCOMER FROM OUT OF THE WEST 



The Douglas Fir, native to the forests of the Pacific Coast and 

 Rocky Mountain regions, is now being grown in Penn- 

 sylvania as an ornamental and Christmas tree. 



tion in fall and in winter. An old manuscript in the 

 P>ritish Museum states that the "Holy hath berys as red 

 as any rose." This has- led to the belief that early writ- 

 ers called it the "Holy Tree." Devout people regard the 

 leaves of the Holly as a symbol of the Saviour's crown 

 of thorns. 



Unquestionably, the holly wreath is attractive and 

 ])opular, but unfortunately the methods of collecting the 

 branches is very destructive. In many instances the 

 tops of the trees are cut out completely, leaving nothing 

 but an erect bare trunk. We need the holly sprig for 

 decorative j)urposes at Christmas, but in order that a fu- 

 ture supply may be insured, special steps must be taken 

 at once to regulate the cutting in such a way that all 

 the existing trees may continue to produce annually an 

 abundant supply of thrifty branchlets. 



Another Christmas gift of the forest is the Mistletoe. 

 It is the only parasitic plant that is used for adornment 

 at Christmas time. It is sometimes called a tree thief. 



