Christmas Trees for Pleasure and Profit: Third Edition

By Robert D. Wray and Arthur Glenn Chapman

Book Overview

"This book should be required reading for the new or prospective Christmas tree grower." --Journal of Forestry The third edition of this successful book is for the farmer who has some extra land, for the prospective commercial grower with several hundred acres, or for the hobbyist who may want to supplement his income. Both the novice and the experienced grower will benefit from its account of growing Christmas trees for the market. Covering basic principles as well as specific practices, the book guides the reader through the various stages of establishing and maintaining a Christmas-tree plantation. Chapters provide important information on the selection of land, where to get planting stock, and factors that should be considered when deciding on what species to grow. The most critical job of all--the actual planting of the trees--is covered in depth. The authors present useful techniques for protecting the growing trees from weeds, insects, and diseases, and they offer a full description of shearing (or shaping) trees to improve their form and density--one of the keys to a successful crop. On the business side, issues of grading, harvesting, and marketing are examined. A chapter on taxes includes alternative methods of treating income and a concluding section gives the grower advice on obtaining further help. This new and updated edition also covers changes in the technology of planting and maintaining trees. Information on new uses of machinery, statistical details on plantations and acreage, and the most recent data on herbicides are also included. The late Arthur Chapman was chief of the Division of Forest Management Research at the Central States Forest Experiment Station in Columbus, Ohio. Robert Wray is retired from the U.S. Forest Service's North Central Forest Experiment Station where he was in charge of information services. He has written for various conservation and professional publications and continues to do contract editing for the Forest Service.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813510740
• ISBN13: 9780813510743
• Release Date: June 1985
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Great buy, good information!

For those who are thinking of going into the Christmas Trees business or doing it for pleasure, this is a very informative book, easy to understand and visualize. The 178 plus pages go really fast, I read the book in two days and now I'm keeping it as a reference. Lot's of good knowledge gathered from different professionals in the Christmas Trees business. The book goes from "Selecting Land" and "Species to Grow" to "Going to Market", and "Profit and Taxes". The progression of this book makes for an easy understandable read and guides you from start to finish.

Good reference on this subject

A lot of good and useful information can be had from this book. I would recommend this book to anyone starting in the "field" of Christmas tree growing, (excuse the pun). Personally, I preferred the book by Lewis Hill on this suject as that book is a little more fun to read than this was at times. This book also sports many dated black and white pictures. The information is of course current, but you will know right away that this book was written and compiled during the 1960's vs. modern day. Don't let these minor criticisms stop you from getting this book though. As I said, a lot of good info. is available and it stands as a good reference for this subject.

Must have!

This book covers everything for prospective Christmas Tree Farm owners from how to know which land is best for your trees to marketing and selling your trees. It is definialy a must have for those with an interest in owning a Christmas tree farm. The author wrote the book in a very easy and whimsical way to make the book very enjoyable to read.