Christmas Time Means Death to Many Trees

This intemperance or lack of conservation is not confined to lumbermen, it is rampant on a lesser scale throughout the community.

In a few months we shall witness the wholesome slaughter of beautiful young Douglas Firs, thousands will be cut for Christmas trees. At the present time these are beautifying vacant ground around Vancouver. If they are not beautiful their lives will be spared, only the best are cut down. I do not expect that any words of mine will stop this form of vandalism; but I do think that, instead of stripping whole areas of every young tree in sight, people should go into the denser parts of our woodlands where the removal of some over-crowded young trees may help the remaining ones.

Then in Spring we witness the annual destruction of Dogwood, one of the best trees we have to advertise and boost the climate of this region. I cannot understand the apathy and slowness of Vancouver to recognize the value of giving this tree the place it deserves. Clumps of Dogwoods should be liberally planted in all our parks and open places. We should have a line of them along Pacific Highway from Vancouver to New Westminster so that all visitors from the south will see at least one of the familiar trees of California, and people from the east will realize that our climate must be milder, because this half hardy tree is hardy in this part of British Columbia.

Yet the tendency here is to cut the most beautiful Dogwood trees by the road side, so that auto tourists in a short time will rarely see a Dogwood here.