ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 15, 1996 TAG: 9612160012
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FLOYD
SOURCE: TOM ANGLEBERGER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
VIRGINIA'S NATIVE Fraser fir is the hot seller this Christmas because it holds ornaments and needles best, farmers say.
On the tree farms of Floyd County, where they measure Christmas trees by the truckload, they're calling this a pretty good year.
The year started with good tree-growing weather and is ending with healthy sales. Although many of the farms make a lot of their money selling live trees for landscaping, they aren't complaining about the popularity of their Christmas trees.
"Trees are really good this year, in color and quality," said Lonnie Slaughter of Slaughters Tree Farms, where 15,000 to 20,000 Christmas trees will be sold by Dec.25.
For the cut-your-own business, however, the soggy December weather has put a crimp in sales. In neighboring Montgomery County, Bill Larsen of Larsen Tree Farms in Riner said some still brave the winter rains to find just the right tree.
Slaughter, like other local tree farmers, gives a lot of credit for this year's sales to the Fraser fir.
While the white pine has fallen out of favor with tree buyers, the Fraser fir has grown in popularity.
"[It is] the No.1 seller, and I think it will continue to grow" in popularity, he said.
This is good news for local tree farmers.
Floyd County's ability to produce Fraser firs, which are native to Virginia, allows it to compete with producers in northern states, Slaughter said. His own business, which is about 60 percent Christmas trees, has grown every year since he started 15 years ago.
Reggie Clark, who has 150 acres planted with Fraser firs at Clark's Nursery, said the county has the right climate, the right wind conditions, the right elevation, and even the right number of insects for growing Fraser firs.
The Fraser fir, which is native to Virginia, has become the most popular tree in the country.
"It's the Cadillac of the Christmas tree. It holds ornaments better. It holds its needles better," Clark said. "We sell every tree we can grow."
Clark's Nursery sells most of its Christmas trees wholesale, sending truckloads as far away as Kansas and Missouri. However, Christmas trees make up only about 20 percent of the nursery's business, which is mostly focused on supplying trees for landscaping.
"Tree work is year-round work," said Bobby Clark, also of Clark's Nursery. With planting, raising and shipping the landscaping and Christmas trees, there is work to keep his employees busy 11 months of the year. January's weather, he said, is too unpredictable.
So while the employees are on a temporary layoff, he goes to trade shows to generate sales for the rest of the year.
Despite the abundance of tree farms in the area, Clark said there is little competition among the growers.
"I think [the other tree farms are] probably more help than ... competition," he says, noting that he can turn to another nursery for help if he comes up short filling an order.
Tom Deveron of Cedarhenge Tree Farm agrees. "It's such a huge market," he said, that he feels no pinch from his competitors.
But this year is not only a good time for growers, he said, it's also a good year for consumers - the good weather brought a healthy supply of quality trees.
Even though Cedarhenge is shipping out seven truckloads of trees, Deveron notes that his Christmas trees are a more limited crop, sold only for a few weeks, while his nursery stock is sold seven months a year.
Some local nurseries, such as Laurel Creek Nursery in Montgomery County, offer balled and burlaped trees for use as Christmas trees.
However, Ruth Babylon of Laurel Creek, says this may not be the right purchase for everyone.
She says a live tree cannot stay inside for more than a week and still be successfully replanted. The tree may begin to grow while inside a warm house and will then be damaged when it is taken outside into the cold again.
For many, part of the joy of a Christmas tree is picking out and cutting their own. Tree farmers say this is a great way to make a memorable holiday event and ensure the freshness of the tree.
Larsen of Larsen Tree Farms in Riner is hoping the rainy weekends that have dampened the cut-your-own tree business are over. However, some people still wanted choose their own trees even if it meant getting a bit wet.
"Valiant souls came out despite that," he says. Larsen also has fresh cut trees for customers who are not quite so determined. He offers a dozen species, but he says the white pine and Norway spruce are probably the most popular. Any tree in the field this year sells for $25.
This year has been such a good season that Bobby Clark is hoping he doesn't sell too many more. He admits that he still hasn't put up his own tree yet.
"I hope I still have one left to choose from," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. At Larsen Tree Farm in Riner, about tenby CNBvarieties of pine, spruce and fir are at various stages of maturity,
ready to be harvested. color.