WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1953
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE FIVE
Tree Selection Confronts Buyers
NOVEL SUGGESTIONS:
Inventors Create Gadgets
To Sell on Holiday Market
Fir, Spruce,
Pine Listed
As Popu a r
By JANET SMITH
With the Christmas season fast
approaching, questions such as
what kind of Christmas tree is
best, how should it be selected and
should it be bought early or late
are confronting would-be holiday
decorators.
Among the types of trees most
popular in this part of the coun-
try are the short-needled balsam
fir and white spruce and the long-
er-needled pines, Dr. F. E. Dick-
inson, chairman of the Depart-
ment of Wood Technology in the
School of Natural Resources re-
lated in an nterview.
GENERALLY, the pines seem
to hold their needles the best, but
the firs may also be given a good
gating on this point. Spruce, while
often fuller and better shaped,
tend to begin losing their needles
as soon as brought into a warm
place.
Pines and balsam fir also stay
green longer and give off a more
fragrant and "woodsy" odor.
After deciding on the type of
tree desired, the next step is to
choose the individual specimen.
Points to consider are size, shape,
regularity of spacing of branches
and freshness.
Fir and spruce are both slimmer
and more compact than the long-
needled pines. The needles grow
near the trunk, as well as on the
ends of the branches, and so the
tree has a denser effect.
* * *
PINES, including white, red and
scotch, have needles growing only
at the ends of the branches and
so are not as tapered. They are of.t-
en quite round in appearance.
Balsam fir branches are more
supple and will often sag under
the weight of too many decora-
tions. Pines are .broader and
stiffer, so that more decorations
may be used on them.
All the varieties of trees are
available in any size, from the lit-
tle table tree to the 30 foot speci-
men used to decorate a ballroom.;
However, the fir and spruce are;
By MARY HELLTHALER
Tinted cigarettes, doggy door-
bells and automatic toothpaste
dispensers are among the "unus-
ual" gifts created by inventors and
offered on this year's Christmas
market.
Some novel suggestions for pres-
ents are to be seen nationally and
locally advertised. A "football sak,"
a plastic-covered and flannel-lined
sack which encases the body from
the waist down and ties aroundI
the 50 yard line, is a welcome ad-
dition to any woman's wardrobe
at cold of wet games.
FOLDED UP, it doubles for a
comfortable pillow.
A perfume kit with base, bot-
tles, labels, and several frag-
rances to mix will tantalize the
ingenuity.
Another gift for the artistic
taste, is a glitter pen set con-
taining a pen which writes with
adhesive instead of ink. Sparkling
crystals sprinkled over the writ-
ing adhere to it, and it makes un-
usual Christmas cards.
* ,* *
FOR the smokers on Christmas
lists, tinted king-size and queen-
size cigarettes are offered. Also
proposed is a combination cigar-
ette case and cutter. The cutter,
concealed in the case can halve up
to 20 cigarettes at once, for those
who have time for only a few puffs.
Pipe smokers may be interest-
ed to discover that a pipe with
two bowls has been manufactur-
ed. One bowl is for burning, and
a second is filled with tobacco,
but not burned, for filtering.
There has finally been invented,
probably for the seasonal Ann Ar-
bor rainy weather, a safety um-
brella with a clear plastic window
in the front, to enable the wear-
er to see what is ahead of him.
A REALLY unusual gift has
been offered-a surprise package
that comes every month for an in-
definite time from a different for-
eign country. The package con-
tains articles representative of the
country, such as tourists might
buy as souvenirs.
Dog lovers will be happy to
learn that doggy doorbells are
now available. These are fast-
ened paw high next to doors, and
when the dog scratches on it to
be let in, a clapper hits the bell
and rings. There are no wires
attached.
Anyone who hates to bother
rolling up his toothpaste tube
may find a plastic wall dispenser
handy. A tube is inserted in the
dispenser, and the push of a but-
ton furnishes a ribbon of paste for
the toothbrush.
Golfing fans will certainly en-
joy some goofy golf tees. They will
never again have to worry about
'sand traps. These tees are built to
order, with sticks attached to push
intohillsides, bunkers and traps,
in all kinds of positions.
51 GAUGE
15 DEN IER
DARK H EELS
60 GAUGE
.. 15 DEN I ER
DARK SEAM
MANY COLORS
ito $100
inc
$ 15 DENIER
BY THE
BOX
TREMENDOUS
SAVINGS
CRUBBER AND NYLON
VAR IOUS STYLES .v:r
in $395 $A95
9to
$450 t $ 95
ino
i Phone NO 8-7762
Vol
WA
-Daily-Chuck Kelsey
INSPECTION-Carl Dalton, '54NR, inspects a tree for the qual-
ities that will make it a good Christmas tree, Buyers are advised
to choose a tree for freshness and durability as well as beauty.
The short-needled balsam fir and white spruce and the longer-
needled pines are among the types of trees most popular in this
part of the country.
better suited to be used as table
trees than the pines, for they do
not spread out over as wide an
area.
Most trees on the market today
are "topped." That is, only the
top portion of the tree is used.,
This is done because the base of
the trees are often too scrubby.
* * .*
IN CHOOSING a tree, it is well
to look for any brown spots or evi-
dence of falling needles. This
means that the tree is dry and will
not last long when it is brought
into a warm room.
Since this year many trees
were cut as early as the first
part of October, it is particular-
ly important to check for fresh-
ness. Not only is a fresh tree
prettier, it is also less of a fire
hazard.
In telling one type of tree from
another, there are several points
that will be of help. The distin-
guishing factor between the fir-
spruce group and the pines is the
needle length. Pines have needles
of two inches or more.
The quickest way to tell a fir
from a spruce is to close the hand
around the end of a branch. If
the points of the needles are sharp
the tree is a spruce. If not, it is
a fir.
*' * *
FIR NEEDLES are flat and have
a notch in the tip, while the spruce
has flat needles. Both varieties
have single needles growing out
from the side of the branches.
Of the three types of pine on
the market, the white pine can
be distinguished by the fact
that it always has five needles
in each cluster.
Both the red or Norway pine
and the scotch or golden pine have
two needles per cluster, but in the
latter they tend to coil around
each other. The red pine needles
are longer and a deeper green.
One of the most popular of the
small seedlings grown in Michi-
gan, the scotch pine has a reddish
bark on the stem.
Truly a "Michigan" Christmas Gift
THE OFFICIAL "MICHIGAN" RING
BURR PATTERSON & AULD
"Official Jewelers for Men's and Women's Class Rigs"
1209 South University Bob Collins, Mgr.
IL
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READ AND USE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS
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a witty new shape for a blouse,
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Sizes 32 to 38.
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