Our Christmas Greens. 
It is probable that few people realize bow much widespread 
destruction our cheerful demand for Christmas greens entails; 
our Holly wreathes and Laurel and Ground-pine roping have 
meant corresponding losses to our woodlands. We are most of 
us to blame through ignorance because we do not know that one 
thin and poor yard of Laurel-roping uses up at least twenty 
growths of one year each, and that over thirty are needed to 
make the pretty thick strands we all have liked to buy. A good 
wreath of Holly is made up of fully thirty or forty of the finest 
young berried twigs of an average of two years growth. The 
cases of Holly sold in all the large florists' shops and markets 
at Christmas time measure approximately three feet long and 
two feet wide and at least two feet high; each of these boxes 
contain a minimum of six hundred years of growth. It is there- 
fore not difficult to understand why Holly has been practically 
exterminated from the state of Connecticut and is growing 
difficult to find in New Jersey and nearby states. 
The young sprouts of the Southern long-leaved Pine are also 
much used at Christmas and any of us who have tried to nurse 
an Evergreen back ' to shapeliness, which has lost its leader, 
knows what the loss of the principal growth means to a young 
conifer. Abies balsamea, the Northern fir, does not seem to be un- 
desirable to use for our Christmas trees. It is beautiful in youth 
but short-lived and of little commercial value and is only fit 
for Christmas trees when grown in the open, as it rapidly loses 
its lower branches in the forest. 
Our churches in the East use large quantities of Christ- 
mas greens and occasionally one sees a shop, theatre or 
concert hall gaily wreathed with Laurel, Pine or Hemlock. 
The business of collecting these greens is growing each year; 
many country land-owners are selling the right to get these 
materials and small armies of collectors come and cut and cart 
away cases and bales to supply our demands for decoration. We 
can each of us do our part toward decreasing the demand which 
has produced this reckless supply. It is going to be hard to find 
substitutes, but the Christmas destruction in our woodlands will 
largely cease if we use more tubbed or potted trees and plants 
and more artificial leaves and branches which, although more 
expensive at the start, do not fade and have to be replaced each 
year. 
We are each of us directly responsible for our share of this 
destruction, unless we know that the greens we have or buy come 
from carefully pruned shrubs or from plants especially grown 
for the purpose. Under present conditions we might paraphrase 
the familiar quotation by saying that our woodlands are being 
"butchered to make a Christmas holiday." 
Beatrix Farrand. 
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