LADY BUG: TIPS HELP KEEP CHRISTMAS TREES FRESH

Choosing the family Christmas tree is great fun, but it can be quite a confusing job as there are so many choices.

Scotch pine is probably the most popular Christmas tree sold. It is economically priced, holds its needles well, but doesn't have a strong fragrance.

Unfortunately, Scotch pine, like the spruces, have sharp stiff needles, and when they fall into carpeting they can be painful for children or adults when walking around the tree in stockings or bare feet.

One of the "friendlier" trees is the Canadian balsam which has soft needles, an attractive color and a pleasant fragrance. Another fir, the Douglas fir, is also fragrant and beautiful, but tends to be more expensive.

In selecting the tree, whether it be Scotch pine, white pine, balsam fir or cedar, it should have several characteristics besides good looks.

Moisture is the most important characteristic. One way to check is to rub the needles between your fingers and thumb. If the needles bend, it is fresh, but if they break, the tree has been cut too long. Another test is to lift the tree, holding it by its trunk and rapping it hard against the ground on its stump end. If a lot of needles shower to the ground, choose another. This one has been cut too long.

Many trees shipped into our area are from Michigan or Minnesota, arriving a few days after cutting. Even in that short time, trees coming from a colder climate and coming this far south can dry out quickly.

There are several Christmas tree farms in the Cape Girardeau area, and this is the best way to get a fresher tree -- to go to the farm and select one.

After the tree has been chosen and taken home, immediately cut a couple inches off the stump to open up the water conducting vessels. Place it in warm water in a cool place until time to decorate it.

It is surprising how much water a fresh tree can absorb in an ordinary heated house. It can take up as much as a gallon a day. Check the tree every day.

Several years ago, this formula was recommended for keeping trees fresh: Mix about a liter of carbonated non-cola drink (must contain sugar) and two tablespoons liquid beach with a gallon of water. (Be very careful that none of this spills on the carpet.)

This possibly came from the extension service in Georgia where studies also has been done on such additives as aspirin, sugar and other compounds. The studies found these do not keep the tree one bit fresher than ordinary tap water.

Legend of the Christmas Tree

Today the Christmas tree is a center of our festivities. Topped with a star, and glittering with lights and ornaments, it is a part of the beauty and meaning of the Christmas season.

How did the Christmas tree come to play such an important part in the observance of Christmas?

There is legend that comes down to us from the early days of Christianity in England. One of those helping to spread Christianity among the Druids was a monk named Wilfred (later Saint Wilfred).

One day, surrounded by a group of his converts, he cut down a huge oak tree, which, in the Druid religion, was an object of worship. As the oak tree fell to the earth, it split into four pieces, and from its center there grew a young fir tree, pointing a green spire toward the sky.

The crowd gazed in amazement. Wilfred let his axe drop, and turned to speak. "This little tree shall be your Holy Tree tonight. It is the wood of peace, for your houses are built of the fir. It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are evergreen.

"See how it points toward the heavens? Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child. Gather about it, not in the wilderness, but in your homes. There it will be surrounded with loving gifts and rites of kindness."

And to this day, that is why the fir tree is one of our loveliest symbols of Christmas.

This story about an ardent conservationist has been around for quite a long time. When Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States in 1901, he forbade the use of a Christmas tree in the White House. When he found his sons smuggled a Christmas tree and set it up in their room, he was forced to reconsider the conflict between his concern for nature and his well-established tradition.

After consulting with his adviser on conservation, he was assured that harvesting of Christmas trees have become a crop to be grown and harvested much as we grow food and ornamental crops. They may be grown in land not well suited to many agricultural crops, and they provide soil erosion control as well as wildfire cover.