There can be no Christmas without a beautifully decorated fir tree. According to history, the tradition of decorating trees in winter precedes the birth of Christ. The Romans were known to have decorated trees with metal during a winter festival that honoured Saturnus, the god of agriculture. According to myth, a paradise tree was decorated with apples to celebrate the feast of Adam and Eve on December 24. Folklore describes how Martin Luther, to share his experience in an evergreen forest, brought a tree home to his family and decorated it with candles.

The very first tree was decorated for Christmas in Latvia in 1510, and the earliest written record of a decorated tree is from a diary dated 1605, from an area which was in Germany but is now a part of France. It was apparently decorated with apples, candles, and candies. In the US, the first Christmas tree retail lot was established by Mark Carr in New York in 1851; prior to this all trees came from the forests.

Now around thirty-six million trees are grown every year for sale at Christmas. And, in the US, the states of Oregon, California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Washington are the leaders. Among the firs that we popularly term as Christmas trees are the Scotch pine, Douglas fir, Noble fir, Fraser fir, Balsam fir, and White pine.

Christmas trees introduce magic into the home, and spread happiness, peace, and joy. Select a tree with care. Be sure to measure the space where your tree will stand so that you don