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Tuesday, December 13, 1977
University Daily Kansan
Haulina it in
Staff Photo by ELI REICHMAN
Haven sophomore, and Steve Haney, Plainville sophomore, cut down their own and hauled them home.
Farm sells self-serve pine trees
Like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting, parents, students and children wandered among the pine trees scouting for the perfect tree to chow down for Christmas.
Shopping outside in the cold and windy December weather did not seem to bother those who drove to the Pine Hill Christmas tree farm near Lawrence on Sunday to find a tree.
A long gravel driveway winds up to the house and barn owned by Steve Edmonds, a retired carpenter.
About 20 minutes east of Lawrence off County Road 1057, the Pine Hill farm has catered to area residents for more than six years.
Greeting each customer approaching the farm is a sign that reads: *Welcome*. Please greet everyone.
Inside the barn, Edmonds has set up his seasonal business on a table between an old horse-drawn sleigh and a brown horse henced in a corral.
AS CUSTOMERS bled in warm coats, boots and hats entered the barn, Edmonds handed them an instruction sheet explaining how to cut their own Christmas trees.
"You grab a saw and that all's there is to Edmond. We are pointing to a rack of saw frames."
"The ones that aren't tagged we're keeping for future generations," he said.
Although there are about 5,000 trees on the farm, only those with colored ribbons can be cut. The ribbon determines the price of the trees. Prices range from $6 to $12.
Edmonds said he had sold about 400 trees
in the season but could have sold more if he
had
"We're always in the situation where we have more people than trees," he said.
EDMONDS SAID people came to cut their own trees mainly because it was fun.
Gary Stewart, De Soto resident, said resident of pre-cut trees was a fire hazard in a house.
"These cut in October you can pick the needles off," he said. "You feel more relaxed."
Jane Rutledge, Lawrence resident, said, "This is more fun and they're fresher. The ones at the store have been cut so long that they dry out quickly in the house.
"I't just a fun family outing for people to get back to a traditional Christmas."
Another reason, he said, was because live trees were fresher than pre-cut Christmas trees.
RICH JONES, DeSoto resident, said he would never buy a pre-cut tree.
"I like the real thing, even though it takes a little bit more time," Jones said.
...and not take much time, however, for one family to find a tree. A four-year-old boy ran through the pine trees and was deterred by a better树 than the one he saw before.
His family followed behind for about 30 minutes and finally made a joint decision.
Another woman said it was impossible to find a tree, because her family could never discover it.
"We need four trees for this family," she said.
HE BUYS his seedlings from the Kansas Forestry Division at Kansas State University for about six to 10 cents each and plants them in the sorter after the last frost.
Edmonds said that last spring he planted about 300 seedlings to replenish the trees cut down. He said he sold more Scotch pine trees than Austrian or white pine trees.
Edmonds said that he planted two or three trees for every tree that was cut down, and that about 70 per cent of the trees he planted lived.
Other Christmas tree farms in the area are Cedar Valley tree farm in DeSoto and Green Forest Tree Farm in Lecompan. Edmonds said that his prices were comparable to those at other farms and those on local Christmas tree lots.
EDMONDS SAID he sprayed his trees with a food color dye that retained a tree's natural color. Without this the tree would turn yellow when it not cold, he said.
He said he usually did not sell a tree for about six years because a pine tree would be too large to fit in.
When the trees are about three years old, he said, they are trimmed and shaped.
Another advantage of buying a tree at a farm is that it is easier to see what it will
his wife to decorate in their apartment.
look like standing up with all the branches free, Robert Munsch, Lawrence president,
"I really didn't want to kill a tree for that, but what's Christmas without a tree," he said.
"I priced some at the store and they were
all mashed in and you couldn't tell what you were buying, "he said.
J. D. Stewart, Plainville graduate student, said he came to buy a small tree for
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SOPHOMORES
Now comes Miller time.