THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 24, 1995 TAG: 9511230528
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: INDEPENDENCE LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Fraser fir Christmas trees are making a quicker-than-expected recovery from last year's damaging freeze, according to Jimmy Osborne, Grayson County's agricultural extension agent.
``A lot of those trees we thought would take two years are going to recover in one year. And a lot of those trees that we thought would take three years are going to recover in two,'' Osborne said.
But there is a down side. ``The thing you still have to keep in mind, though, is you lost a year's growth,'' he said.
Jaye Baldwin of Whitetop, who has grown Christmas trees since 1976, said many of his trees are damaged. ``But overall, they have recovered at a much higher rate than we had anticipated.''
Members of the Mount Rogers Area Christmas Tree Growers Association banded together in 1994 to seek federal assistance after a spring freeze caused an estimated $12.7 million in damage to the Fraser fir Christmas tree industry in Grayson, Washington and Smyth counties.
Low-interest federal loans were made available to farmers, providing they met qualifications such as proving a financial hardship and being turned down for a bank loan.
Agricultural experts from both North Carolina and Virginia surveyed initial damage in the fields and tried some experimental pruning.
Many of the trees ``had abnormal tops,'' Osborne said. ``But they were able to trim a whole lot of that out to where it looks fairly decent. They've recovered a whole lot.''
Despite a drought in the lower elevations this year, the weather in the nearly mile-high Whitetop community at the edge of Virginia's highest peaks has remained cooperative for tree growers, Baldwin said.
``We had a lot more rain here on the mountain,'' Baldwin said. ``The weather has just been ideal this year.''
Baldwin sells some of his crop at a retail lot in Bristol, Tenn. Premium Fraser firs will sell for more than $30 apiece. Baldwin asks for $10 less for slightly damaged trees.
``It has turned around and looks a lot better this year than it was last year,'' he said. ``A lot of trees that were heavily damaged are still heavily damaged. It will take them at least another year to recover or be sold as a lesser-quality tree.'' ILLUSTRATION: A MERRY CHRISTMAS AFTER ALL
KEN WRIGHT
The Virginian-Pilot
[Color Illustration]
by CNB