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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1958)
HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1958 i t : -,i - -y iTjiS? , 4'- . '' - . i t?;:-.'.t"v-'-. v.. IT IS RUGGED COUNTRY up where the Christmas frees grow on the 5.000 era Ken-Dell'ranch out of Tennant. This picture was taken high on the hill above the ranch headquarters in mid-November during a tour of the op eration. The road winds its way through the timber to the 6,500 where thinning operations are currently being carried out. '4 foot level " Christmas Trees Are Big EBusiness Now By PEGGY WALSH DUNSMUIR In selecting a Christinas tree whose shiny orna ments will reflect in the eyes of bis children on Christmas Day, the average purchaser does not realize the tree has been an object of tender care, for as long as 15 years before it reached the sales lot. It is not a matter of chance that a tree is green and fragrant. The whims of nature are not con ducive to symetrical growth of a tree with one needle-covered tip just waiting for the Christmas lights or angeL At the Ken-Dell ranch in north era Siskiyou County. Christmas tree production has become a sci ence. Kenneth Bishop of Los An geles and his partner, Del Heynolds of Montague, now. as sure their wholesale buyers a 100 per cent marketable shipment of trees within an established price range. The Ken-Dell operation was ex plained to foresters, conserva tionists, timber holding interests and educators in all-day session at the ranch in mid-November. Both the cache yards where grading and sizing is done and the cutting operations were toured by about 30 men. A system of Christmas, tree farming, contract cutting and DIRECT CONTACT AUSTIN, Tex. (UPD An offi cial of the American Medical As sociation tells this story: The man on the phone asked the nurse about a patient named Mc Gowan. ""His operation was a suc cess," she replied, "his fever is down, he'll be eating in two days and will be released next week. Who is this calling?" The man re plied: "This is McGcwan. Nobody tells me what's going on around fcer.r I grading has been developed with ine neip oi torest experts, conser vationists and a "great deal of trial and error. Bishop told the group. Public fancy now leans toward the red fir, popularly known as silvertip because of the gray-green new growth at the end of each branch. Color, stem, taper, full ness and even needle length must meet the demands of what the housewife thinks in terms of in terior decoration for the holiday season. Silvertip thickets above the 6.500 foot elevation on the 5,000 acre Ken-Dell ranch, 30 miles north of Weed, have been thinned so each tree has a six foot growing base. A standard of 1,240 trees per acre has been set for maximum growth of top-grade trees. These trees are pruned and "shocked" to develop uniformly thick whorls of branch es. The "shock" is a slash along the side of the trunk which delays the growth and prevents develop ment of a tall, spindly specimen. Once a growth area is developed. tree harvesting begins. At least 20 per cent of the foliage on the stump is retained and pruned to provide one upthrusting branch. A new tree grows from the old stump in three to five years. The Ken-UeU ranch counts on a 100 tree per acre harvest for the next 100 years from this method. Christmas trees and timber grow on mountainsides in compli mentary fashion. Bishop told his guests. Timber provides wind pro tection for the Christmas trees and the shorter growth of the Christ mas trees allow sunshine and light to reach the developing tim ber. Bishop said he refused to al low loggers to cut over his land unless they would agree to pre serve the Christmas tree stands. Uniformed nature lovers envision waste in the destruction of unused Christmas trees. Some even de plore the use of Christmas trees at an. They do not realize the orderly growth and harvesting of Christmas trees is actually a con servation measure and every tree that leaves his mountainside has fulfilled a purpose in nature, Bish op explained. The trees are harvested by con tracts let to "gyppos," a colloquial term for small timber contractors. "We used to contract on a foot age basis," Bishop said, "but we got a lot of trash trees. Now we have a premium tree incentive basis of pay. The trees are graded into four categories: diamond la bel, gold label, red label and green label. When a perfect tree reaches the cache yard, it is given a diamond label and the contrac tor is properly tallied. The pro cedure continues for the not-quite perfect gold label tree and the standard red label tree. Returns to the contractors are on the basis of increased pay for better trees. Nothing is paid the con tractor for the green label tree. These are sold in lots to jobbers or converted into greenery for wreaths and other decorative uses." "There is only one diamond la bel tree to a truckload," Bishop concluded, adding there is a great THE COVER Ken Bishop, one of the owners of the Ken Dell Ranch at Tennant, holds a by - product of the Christmas tree in dustry, a trimmed branch which will find its way into a door charm. The r a n c h is one of the largest, if not the largest, Christ mas tree operations in the country. deal even to tree handling. "A gold label tree may be green label by the time, it reaches the yard but with the incentive method a larger percentage of trees each year are gold label trees. Keturns from green label trees go into pruning for stand improvements. Ken-Den tree graders are wom en and they've learned the skill through practice. Marian Tassie of Mount Hebron works in sub-freez ing weather in the cache yards during October and November but says she looks forward to this change in her routine as a ranch wife. One of Ken-DeU's larger orders this year is for Sears, Roebuck and Company retail stores in Cali fornia. Graders and sorters were busy filling orders for 10,000 trees as the guests observed the oper ations. Specific orders for each store are filled from a speciallv measured and graded cache. The trees are marked with then: re tail price at the grading area and trunk ends are painted with various colors for identification of each order. The truck driver iden tifies each store's trees by the painted butt ends of the trees as suring quick, orderly delivery of eacn oraer. The Ken-Den ranch uses every thing but the patch of blue sky from which the mountainside seems to hang. Pruned branches provide a mulch for the develop ing trees and in the last two years a wreath, spray and centerpiece business has developed as a side line. Mrs. Bishop designs the pieces, a crew ol seven women make up the base of the designs at the ranch. These are shipped in bundles to Los Angeles where decorations are added and they are placed in retail outlets. Margaret Knowles of Klamath Falls, is in charge of the door charm, wreath and centerpiece operation. She supervises the work both at the ranch and in Los Angeles and frankly admits she is amazed to have found a new career after passing 60. Analysis of equipment, roads and costs has not escaped the Ken-Dell management. The part ners have dptprminpri iw ma chetes and hand axes are best for pruning, power saws for cutting, bulldozers with fork lifts for han dling larger trees and a half track with a man in a hiiHcot xr,na r specialized cutting. Thirty miles of road have been built in tho lact in years and 50 miles of logging spurs, ii costs o an acre to prune a worthless tree thiMrot anri ; three vears th ctarul ;c $500 an acre, Bishop .explained. iue ciunax 01 me. day at the ranch was the tree judging, an annual event. Farh nnntrMn ; the area had submitted bis fa vorite tree and the top tree for beauty, conformation and color was one cut by Bert Tassie on Ken-Dell developed land. Judges were Bob Kohn, manager of the Ralnh Smith T at Mount Shasta: Hans Karstensen oi xresa, U.S. agricultural stabi lizer; Lous Frandsen of San Fran cisco, president of the Kmithn Pacific Land Company; Rick Kirk of G. R. KirkJomapny, Tacoma; Roy Ritchie, resident manager of the Latour State Forest at-Redding; Fred Lendman, trustee of the R. G. Watt estate. Redding; Ed Anderson nf Vrolra cnii m. servationist; and Leonard Hines, cniei loresier lor international Pa per Company at Weed. MILK A STANDBY BURLINGTON Vt TTPnWW was good enough for the 13th cen tury trooDS of Genphic Klion im good enough for people today, says the University of Vermont dairy department. The department said miiK is sun me Dest tnirst-quench-er and instant rirv niwHor-millr win serve well as a substitute. The de- nartment nntpi tha ' nt I Genghis Khan had dried milk in- uuaea 111 uieir ueia rations as lar back as the 13th century.
