We would suggest a planting of 70% Pines, and 30% 
Spruces. You may have several varieties of both species, de- 
pending on your particular soil and climate conditions. You 
will find it will pay you well when marketing time comes. 
Preparation of the Planting Site 
We recommend no preparation of soil before planting. The 
added expense is usually not justified, and often a light growth 
of grass and weeds is actually beneficial to the growth of young 
trees since they offer shade and moisture retention during the 
early stages of the plantation. If you intend to cultivate your 
trees after planting it will be necessary to plow the site first. 

Efficient production methods increase profits from your Christmas 
tree Plantation. 
Planting 
When growing trees are spaced too closely together, they 
crowd, and the resulting competition speeds up the height 
growth but tends to make the trees thin and thus poor Christmas 
Trees. The best shaped trees will be grown by spacing far 
enough apart that they do not interfere with each other. How- 
ever, it is economical to speed up the growth somewhat, and 
it is advisable to utilize all the land. Through years of experi- 
menting we have arrived at an average spacing of 4 to 5 feet 
for Spruce and 5 to 7 feet for Pines as being best for all 
Christmas Tree plantings. Planting is done as with any forest 
trees. Directions appear on page 8 of this Planting List. 
Pruning or Shearing 
Pruning or shearing is recommended for all varieties of 
Pine Christmas Trees. It develops a solid, extra heavy branched 
and bushy tree. This procedure will produce a premium tree 
that. will command the very highest prices. Pruning is done at 
about the fourth year, and before the new, tender growth starts 
to get tough and woody. It is usually done between June Ist 
and July 31st. Pruning is an easy thing to do. One man using 
long shears can prune at least 50 trees per hour. Trim off 
about 1/, the mew growth made during one season. Later in 
the season many new buds will form which will produce many 
more branches. the following year. Shape the tree to a sym- 
metrical form as indicated in diagram on this page. 
Except for pruning, no care or cultivation is necessary. 
Harvesting 
The trees of a Christmas Tree plantation do not all arrive 
at merchantable size the same year. As soon as some are of 
suitable size they should be cut and marketed. The following 
year more will be ready. Where much land is available it is 
a good plan to combine reforestation with the Christmas Tree 
cutting. Under this system you will plant a new tract each year, 
and as they become of age to harvest, cut only 50% of the trees 
Diagram showing proper method of pruning or shearing for more beautiful 
Christmas tree. Prune to a cone shape, roughly as indicated by dotted lines. 
Top should be trimmed shorter than would make a perfect cone, as this 
main shoot has a tendency to grow much. faster than the side branches. 
leaving the remainder to grow into timber. This 50% may be 
cut over a period of three or four years, but in that time you 
will have several tracts to cut over. 
Marketing 
Your particular marketing conditions will determine the 
manner in which you will handle your cutting operations. 
Some growers merely market their trees on the ground. The 
customer selects his tree, you cut it and he takes it home. Or 
you may sell trees on the stump to’a dealer who comes in and 
cuts his trees. If you retail your trees on a lot or sell in smfiall 
amounts to other dealers, the cut trees may be transported loose 
on a truck or wagon. However, if you intend to ship trees or 
truck them long distances, they should be baled. This amounts 
to tying several trees together, and binding the branches down 
flat on the main stem. This allows many more trees to be load- 
ed in the same space, and tends to protect them from damage 
and breakage while handling them. Many ingenious devices 
have been constructed for aiding in tree baling, but as yet 
none have been placed on the market. 
Marketing a Christmas Tree crop must be done within about 
four weeks of the year. Conditions vary somewhat throughout 
the country, but usually you can expect a strong market for 
your product. You will no doubt have competition from 
“shipped in’ wild trees, but experience has shown that planted 
trees sell when others do not. They also command a much 
better price throughout. This fact is very obvious when you 
compare the quality of the two types of tree. 
Address questions regarding Christmas Tree Cultivation 
to MUSSER FORESTS, INC., INDIANA, PA. We shall be 
glad to help you with your problems in any way possible. 

ies 
aie ele eee ae 

Bundled trees leave plantation by truck and tractor. Standing 
trees will be left for timber. 
11 
