CHRISTMAS TREES 



For many years, Montana has produced about 10^ of 

 the Christmas trees used in the United States- For the 

 past several years, however, there has been a steady 

 decline in the production of Montana trees. There are 

 several reasons, including the widespread spruce budworm 

 and needle blight infestations in the Douglas -fir 

 stands in western Montana. The decline has also been 

 due to stiff competition from both wild and plantation-grown 

 trees from other areas . In spite of this, there is no 

 sign as yet that the national market will not be able 

 to continue to absorb Montana-produced trees. This will 

 be especially true as quality stands are maintained 

 and improved at a level to keep Montana trees competitive. 

 Long-time producers of Christmas trees recognize these 

 problems and have taken steps to maintain their level of 

 production and even to increase income through sales of 

 other products of the forest, For example, there have 

 been several industries established in the western part 

 of the State which produce evergreen ornaments in the 

 form of wreaths, evergreen ropes, boughs and cone clusters. 

 Producers are also using techniques which have been dev- 

 eloped to culture wild trees to improve their form and 

 grade, and consequently, the price they receive on the 



-59- 



