This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
Many people do not think of treesas a crop. But Christmas trees are a crop just like any other. Inthe United States alone, people last year bought more thanone-thousand-million dollars worth of Christmas trees.
The traditional tree for the holiday is a fir, spruce or pine.These stay green all year. Evergreens have thin needles instead ofleaves. This prevents the loss of water during dry or cold periods.This quality makes evergreens the perfect choice for use. They canstay green for many weeks, even after being cut.
Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest, is the biggest grower ofChristmas trees in the United States. Michigan, North Carolina,Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are also major growers. There are morethan fifteen-thousand tree farms in the United States and Canada.More than four-hundred-thousand hectares of Christmas trees areplanted.
The trees take an average of seven years until they are ready forharvest. Up to five thousand trees can be grown on a single hectare.Every year, more than seventy-million Christmas trees are planted.Growers plant at least two new trees for every one they harvest.
The Agriculture Department says eighty percent of homes in theUnited States have some kind of Christmas tree. Unlike other crops,Christmas trees have a competitor made of plastic. They never turnbrown, and can be used from year to year. In nineteen-eighty-nine,sales of natural trees and artificial trees were equal. Bytwo-thousand, however, sixty-one percent of the trees sold wereplastic.
The number of real Christmas trees sold has decreased in recentyears. Fewer hectares are being planted in Canada. But the price ofChristmas trees has continued to increase. The average tree costsabout thirty-six dollars.
Poinsettia plants are increasingly popular at Christmas. Butsales are small compared to trees.
The tradition of the Christmas tree is said to have begun inGermany hundreds of years ago. People put fruits and nuts, paperflowers and other objects on the tree to make it more beautiful.German settlers brought the tradition to America in the middle ofthe eighteen-hundreds. At the time, people cut trees from forests.Over time, Christmas tree farming developed and grew into anindustry.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Steve Ember.