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A Brief History of the Christmas Tree. The decoration of trees and bushes growing outside has been a pagan practice to placate the Sylvan spirits since before recorded history. The habit of bringing a tree into the house to be decorated at Christmas is quite recent. In Germany it can be traced back to the beginning of the 17th century when in 1605 an anonymous author wrote, "it is the custom at Strasburg to set up fir-trees in the houses at Christmas and to deck them with roses of coloured paper, apples". This custom was next mentioned about fifty years later when professor Dannhauer, a theologian, wrote "amongst the other absurdities which men are often more busied at Christmas than with the word of God, there is the Christmas or fir tree which they erect in their houses, hang with dolls and sweetmeats, and then shake it and cause it to shed its 'flowers'-- it is a children's game. Far better were it to lead the children to the spiritual cedar, Christ Jesus". This was voiced by many other priests and was probably the reason for the slow spread of the habit throughout Germany where it was not universally established until the 19th century. The Christmas tree was unknown in England until the "Christbaum" was introduced by Prince Albert at Windsor Castle in 1841, and the idea spread rapidly from about 1845. The species used at that time was the European Silver fir - Abies alba, a wise choice as it holds its needles well. The first known Christmas tree sales were in 1851 in New York, when a man called Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds loaded with Balsam fir from his land in the Catskills and set up a sales lot in the city. Christmas Trees and the Environment. Trees while they are alive absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, releasing oxygen to the atmosphere and storing carbon in the form of timber. Trees in Christmas tree plantations grow rapidly and so increase the rate at which CO2 is absorbed. It is calculated that each Christmas tree on average absorbs 27lbs of carbon dioxide each year and it is estimated that 30 million are growing in the UK. These trees would not be growing unless people wanted real trees at Christmas. As soon as one is cut, another is planted to replace it so there is a constant stock of 30 million trees, each one helping to absorb the noxious carbon dioxide given off by motor cars and aeroplanes burning irreplaceable fossilised fuels. The Christmas trees are absorbing more than 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Artificial trees contribute nothing to the environment except some noxious fumes when they are destroyed and most of them are made from the bi-products of irreplaceable fossilised fuels. Christmas trees are a good thing environmentally. They are grown in special plantations far too close together to grow into forest trees. They provide a habitat for wild life and help to bring joy and happiness as the centre of a family Christmas.
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