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Growing and Harvesting
Trees Help the Environment
The Unique Fraser Fir
The First Christmas
Trees
Have you ever wondered where all the Christmas trees
that show up on the lots around Thanksgiving come
from? These trees are grown on plantations and
shipped around the country to retail lots. It takes
many years of hard work to produce a tree that is
just right to become a Christmas tree.
Christmas trees begin their life in a nursery. Here,
seeds are taken from cones of mature trees, planted
and covered with straw.
They are also covered with a shade cloth to prevent
them from being damaged by frost or sun. After three
years, the Fraser Fir trees, or seedlings, are ready
to be moved to the line-out beds for further growth.
Line-out beds allow the seedlings to grow without
competition from larger trees. With all the trees
being relatively the same size, they have an equal
opportunity for sunlight and water. The seedlings
will stay in the line-out bed for two years or until
they are strong enough to be transplanted into the
field.
During the seven to eight years the trees remain in
the field, we will spend time and effort in shaping
them. After the trees reach a height of three feet,
they are sheared for the first time.
During the shearing process, the top of the tree, or
leader, is cut back. By slowing the upward growth
process, the tree will branch out more quickly. As
the tree begins to branch out, the grower will trim
the branches to shape the tree and give it a fuller
appearance.
Shearing the tree is not the only management
practice that the grower will engage in. Integrated
Pest Management, a system of pest control methods
that uses appropriate cultural practices and
pesticide selection to reduce pests, is another
management technique that we use.
Growers also follow sound soil conservations
practices, protecting soils from erosion and being
careful not to deplete its nutrients.
At harvest time, we identify finished trees by
placing a ribbon on them. The ribbons are color
coded with each height being assigned a different
color. Often a whole field is not ready for sale in
any one year. It often takes two to four years
before a field is cleared and ready for new trees to
be planted.
The tagged trees are cut and then bundled during a
process called baling. During the baling process,
the trees are placed in a machine that ties them in
twine so that they are easier to ship. After being
baled, the trees are taken to the loading yard where
they are placed on trucks and shipped to retail lots
all across the country.
Producing the best tree for your family that nature
and nurture can provide takes much time and effort.
It can take anywhere from twelve to fifteen years
for a tree to be ready to harvest. Yet, Christmas
tree growers agree that this long hard job is worth
it when their trees become the decorative
centerpiece of your home during the holiday season.
Growing
and Harvesting Trees Help the Environment
Did you ever think that by using a live Christmas
tree in your house that you were actually helping
the environment? Real trees help the environment
from the time they are planted until after the
holiday season when they can be recycled.
While they are growing, Christmas trees support life
by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases while
giving off fresh oxygen. Every acre of Christmas
trees planted gives off enough oxygen to meet the
needs of 18 people. Today in America there are
enough Christmas trees planted that 18 million
people a day are supplied with oxygen. Also, the
farms that grow Christmas trees stabilize soil,
protect water supplies, and provide a refuge for
wildlife while creating a nice scenic view. Often,
Christmas trees are grown on soil that will not
support any other crops. And when one Christmas tree
is cut down, one or two are replanted in its place.
Artificial trees are made from oil-based products
that use up our natural resources. They are also not
recyclable and will remain in land-fills for
centuries after disposal.
Real Christmas trees, on the other hand, are
recyclable. The branches and trunk are biodegradable
and can be made into mulch for the garden. A
Christmas tree placed in the back yard will make a
nice bird feeder and the birds can also use the
trees branches for shelter during the winter winds.
Large quantities of trees make effective barriers on
beaches to prevent soil erosion. Sunk into ponds,
the trees will also make an excellent refuge and
feeding area for fish.
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The Unique Fraser Fir
NC Tree Growers produce over 50 million Fraser Firs
each year. The Fraser Fir was named for John Fraser,
a Scottish botanist who explored the southern
Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in the late
1700s. It is a pyramid-shaped tree that reaches a
maximum height of 80 feet and a trunk diameter of
1-1/2 feet.
The Fraser Fir grows naturally only in the southern
Appalachians, above 3,000 feet. The cool
temperatures and large amount of rainfall in the North
Carolina High Country are what causes the Fraser Fir
to keep its needles throughout the Christmas season.
Over 50 million Fraser Firs are grown in North
Carolina on 25,000 acres for use as Christmas trees,
and the Fraser Fir represents over 90% of all the
trees grown in North Carolina as Christmas trees.
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The First Christmas Trees
Christmas Trees haven't always been a Christmas
tradition. No one really knows who put up the first
Christmas tree, but some historians believe that
even the Egyptians and Romans used some form of an
evergreen to decorate their homes in late December.
It is generally agreed that the first use of a tree
as part of the Christian Christmas celebration was
started over 400 years ago by the Germans.
The Christmas tree was brought to America by the
Hessian mercenaries that were paid to fight for the
British during the Revolutionary War. In 1804,
soldiers stationed at a fort near Chicago hauled
trees to their barracks during Christmas.
In 1842, a German named Charles Minnegerode
introduced the custom of decorated Christmas trees
in Williamsburg, Virginia homes. His tree was
described as being "splendidly decorated" with
strings of popcorn, nuts, and lighted candles.
By 1900, one in five American families decorated
trees during Christmas and by 1930, the tree had
become a nearly universal part of the American
Christmas.
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If you would like more information or to
place an order,
please contact us 336-384-2828
(business), 336-977-8585 (David cell), 336-877-7722
(Andy cell), 336-877-6876 (Wesley cell) or 336-384-1006
(fax),
email us, or
use our online request form. |
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