为什么好的圣诞树可能很难找到

为什么好的圣诞树可能很难找到

If you're someone who enjoys the beauty and smell of a real Christmas tree, you might have to search a little harder and pull a few more bills out of your wallet this holiday season.

如果你喜欢一棵真正的圣诞树的美丽和香味，那么在这个圣诞季节，你可能需要更努力地搜寻一番，从你的钱包里拿出更多的钞票。

A national Christmas tree shortage could make finding the perfect evergreen a bit more difficult this year. (Photo: gpointstudio/Shutterstock)

In Portland, Oregon, KGW reports that longtime farms have shut down due to lack of trees to sell. The shortage will likely drive up prices, industry watchers say.

在俄勒冈州的波特兰，KGW报告说，由于缺乏可供出售的树木，长期以来的农场已经关闭。行业观察人士说，供应短缺可能会推高价格。

Farmers are not only working with fewer trees, but shorter trees, Mary Gruber who helps run Old Stone Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, told WHYY.

帮助经营宾夕法尼亚州切斯特县旧石农场的玛丽·格鲁伯告诉WHYY网站，农民们不仅要用更少的树，还要用更短的树。

A shortage one year can have an impact on business forever, Gruber said.

格鲁伯说，一年的短缺可能会对企业产生永久性的影响。

'We've never run out of Christmas trees'

“我们从未用完圣诞树”

Those looking for hard-to-find-varieties may have better luck visiting u-cut farms rather than a traditional lot. (Photo: SupportPDX [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

According to the American Christmas Tree Association, 32.8 million real Christmas trees were purchased in 2018. In the most recently survey (2016), the group found that of the 100 million U.S. households displaying a tree, 81% opted for an artificial version.

根据美国圣诞树协会的数据，2018年购买了3280万棵真正的圣诞树。在最近的一次调查(2016年)中，该组织发现，在1亿美国家庭中，81%选择了人造圣诞树。

For those traditionalists that remain, the hunt for the perfect tree — in particular for hard-to-find varieties like Noble firs — have farms around the country struggling to keep pace. It's estimated it may be another six or eight years before the industry is able to fully close the gap. Add in additional pressures from increasing droughts, wildfires and a lack of quality seedlings, and that timeframe may grow larger still.

对于那些还保留着传统的人来说，寻找完美的树种——尤其是那些很难找到的品种，比如高贵的冷杉——使得全国各地的农场都在努力跟上步伐。据估计，该行业可能还需要6到8年的时间才能完全填补这一差距。再加上日益严重的干旱、野火和缺乏优质幼苗带来的额外压力，这个时间框架可能会变得更大。

In the meantime, growers are trying their best to gently raise prices without crippling customers' wallets. A poll conducted by the National Christmas Tree Association found that the "mean average" spent by consumers per tree — that's a measurement of what those who took the poll spent, not the average price of a tree — rose from $36.50 in 2008 to nearly $78 in 2018.

与此同时，种植者正在尽最大努力在不伤及消费者钱包的情况下温和地提高价格。美国圣诞树协会进行的一项民意调查发现，消费者每棵圣诞树的“平均”花费从2008年的36.50美元上升到2018年的近78美元。“平均”花费是衡量那些参加调查的人的花费，而不是一棵树的平均价格。

Finding the perfect tree

寻找完美的树

To gauge if the tree you're interested in will survive the holidays, experts recommend the 'sniff, lift, and snap' test. (Photo: Phil Roeder [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

To improve your chances of finding the perfect Christmas tree, experts recommend inquiring if your local farm or lot has an early reservation program. You may also have more luck at u-cut farms than with store- or lot-stocked trees. To figure out if the variety you're interested will last throughout the holiday season, Bryan Ostlund of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association urges consumers to "sniff, lift, and snap." He explains:

为了提高你找到完美圣诞树的机会，专家建议询问你当地的农场或地块是否有提前预定的计划。你在u型农场的运气可能也比那些储存或大量树木的农场好。太平洋西北圣诞树协会的布莱恩·奥斯特伦德建议消费者“闻一闻、举起来、拍一拍”，以确定你感兴趣的圣诞树品种是否能在整个圣诞季都保持新鲜。他解释说:

"A needle on a Christmas tree — a Nobel fir, a Douglas fir — [is] kind of like a carrot," Ostlund told Northwest News Network. "If you go to bend a nice fresh carrot that’s still full of water it snaps readily. If it’s dehydrated it going to be more, it’s going to bend much more easily. It isn’t going to snap right away."

“圣诞树上的一根针——一棵诺贝尔冷杉，一棵道格拉斯冷杉——有点像胡萝卜，”奥斯特伦德告诉西北新闻网。“如果你去弯曲一个新鲜的胡萝卜，它仍然充满了水，它很容易折断。如果它脱水了，它会更容易弯曲。它不会马上折断。”

Lifting the tree to gauge its weight is an excellent way to feel whether it's hydrated or not. As for sniffing, if the smell doesn't make you want to haul out the holly, it's probably best to move on.

举着树来测量它的重量是一种很好的方式来感受它是否含水。至于嗅探，如果这种气味并没有让你想把冬青树拿出来，那可能是最好的选择。