Business
Christmas trees
Boughs of jolly
Farmers and vendors
see green in fresh-cut Christmas trees
FRANOIS, also known
as The Tree Man,
sets up his stand
every year on the corner of 102nd Street and Broadway.
He and the 500
Christmas trees he brings from Quebec have become a fixture in Manhattan's
Upper West Side.
For up to five weeks
he sells the trees by day for 20 to 300, depending on size and quality,
sleeping in his van at night.
What he earns is, he
says, the icing on the cake of his annual income.
The Tree Man is a
small branch of a big business.
According to a survey
by the National Christmas Tree Association, a trade group, Americans spent more
than 1 billion on 25 mtrees in 2012.
The average price
they said they paid was 40.
But not all Christmas
trees are alike.
People on the East
Coast like Fraser firs, with their typical evergreen fragrance.
Oregon's Grand Fir,
which has an orange-like scent, is popular in California.
Many homes can no
longer make do with the festive cheer that only one tree brings.
Bob Sedlatschek of
Home Depot, a chain store which expects to sell 2.8 mtrees this year, notes
that some households are buying several.
Lou Mignone bought
five this year, cutting down the last at Maple Row Tree Farm in Easton,
Connecticut, where mums and dads wearing Santa hats meander round the lush 200
acres looking for the perfect sapling. About a quarter of buyers like to pick
their own at tree farms.
Scott Edwards, who
owns Maple Row, a former dairy farm in his family for 200 years, makes all his
sales in the four weeks before Christmas.
His is one of 15,000
such farms in America.
Most are small and
family-owned.
Easton, the
Christmas-tree capital of Connecticut, is home to half a dozen, all located
within a few miles of each other.
Every second car
leaving the area has a tree or two strapped to its roof.
Those who find sawing
a fir too laborious and choosing one from a tree seller too time-consuming can
turn to technology.
Harry DeLucia and his
brother set up a website, nyctrees.com, where New Yorkers can purchase trees
grown in New Jersey.
If that is too much
bother an artificial tree might be the answer.
Rick Dungey, of the
NCTA, dismisses the artificial sort as plastic tree-shaped decorations.
Americans tend to
agree, buying more real trees than fake ones.
Of 35m sold every
year, 70% sprout from the ground.
Despite a rise in
sales a decade ago, fake trees have lost their sparkle since the financial
crisis.
But according to the
American Christmas Tree Association, a trade group that claims to represent
both types of tree, 83% of homes have a fake shrub.
They may be less work
and serve for many Christmases, but they make greens cringe.
Once Christmas is
over, most real trees are recycled.
The needles, however,
will periodically turn up on the sitting room floor until Easter.
商业报道
圣诞树
喜乐的枝桠
农户和商贩在新砍的圣诞树上看到希望
弗朗索瓦，也被人叫做圣诞树人。
他每年都会在纽约102号大街和百老汇大道的街角摆上自己的摊位。
他和他从加拿大魁北克市带来的500棵圣诞树已经成为了曼哈顿上西区固定不变的风景线。
在最多五周的时间里，白天他会根据树的大小和质量卖出每棵树20到300美元不等的价格。晚上他就睡在自己的货车里。
他说，他在这段时间所挣的钱，对于他年收入是锦上添花。
圣诞树所带来的收入只是这个利润丰厚商业的一小部分。
据全美圣诞树协会20这个贸易集团的一项调查显示，在2012年，美国人花费了十亿美元购买了2500万棵圣诞树。
受访的美国人称购买圣诞树的平均价格为40美元。
但不是所有的圣诞树都是一样。
美国东海岸的人们喜欢弗雷则杉树，因为其带有典型的常绿植物的芳香。
而带有柑橘香味的俄勒冈大杉树则在加利福利亚比较受欢迎。
仅仅靠一棵圣诞树已经不能使很多感受到太多的节日气氛。
来自美国家居公司家得宝的Bob Sedlatschek称，一些家庭会购置更多的东西。该家居连锁店今年预计将会售出280万棵圣诞树。
Lou Mignone今年购买了五棵圣诞树。他砍掉了位于康乃迪克州伊斯顿市的枫树林场的最后一颗树。在这个农场上的父母们带着圣诞帽在200英亩的旷野上四处漫步，希望找到最佳的圣诞树。大约有四分之一的购买者喜欢在林场里挑选中意的圣诞树。
Scott Edwards是枫树林农场的所有者。枫树林原先是其家族经营了两百多年的奶产品生产农场。现在的枫树林农场的所有销售额都来自于圣诞节前四个星期的时间。
在美国还有15000个这样的农场，
其中的大多数都是规模较小，家族所有。
伊斯顿市是美国康乃迪克州的圣诞树之都，有六个圣诞树农场位于此地，所有农场距离都不过几英里。
每一辆二手车离开该地时都会捆一到两棵树。
有些人觉得自己动手锯倒一棵树太费劲或者觉得从农场主那里挑一棵树太浪费时间，这些人现在可以用高科技方法解决。
Harry DeLucia和他的兄弟建立了一个网站nyctrees.com，在这个网站上纽约人可以买到来自新泽西的杉树。
如果觉得买真正的树太麻烦，那么人造树可能是一个方法。
美国圣诞树协会的Rick Dungey对这种人工的圣诞树非常不屑，认为是树形的塑料装饰。
美国民众更倾向于买真正的而不是假的树木来做圣诞树。
每年所售出的3500棵树中，70%的是从土地里生长出来的真树。
尽管十年之前假树的销售有所增加，但是在经济危机以后假树已经失去了市场占有率。
但是美国圣诞树协会称，任何组织都会宣称自己是真树和假树的最佳代表，但是83%的家庭所购买的树都会有假冒的灌木。
也许这些圣诞树的作用并没有那么大，也只是在圣诞节才有价值，但是他们的作用并不仅仅只有装饰作用。
圣诞节结束后，许多真正的圣诞树都会回收再利用。
但是直到复活节前，杉树上的针叶偶尔将会在客厅的地板上出现。