Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Christmas Tree Farmers Are Farm Family Of The Year

What began as a way to supplement income became a way of life for Clark County's Farm Family of the Year for 1999.

Kendall and Charlotte Hunter, who live in the Manchester Community, raise Christmas trees for a living these days.

The family began in the beef cattle business with Kendall's father in 1958, while also working in the timber industry with his dad.

Kendall began working as a rural mail carrier in 1979, retiring 18 years later in 1997.

The Hunter Christmas Tree Farm started operation in 1987, when the first crop of Virginia pine seedling were planted in February.

Five years later, in 1992, the first "full-time" selling season began.

The Hunter family includes four children, Terri Lynn Bridges, Neill Louis Hunter, Alexander Hodge Hunter and Dorothy Elizabeth Daniell, all grown and moved from home.

The Hunters get their income from the tree farm, timber and renting pasture land.

Their Christmas tree farm includes a second variety of tree, Leyland Cypress. This crop was first planted in 1995 and should be ready for harvest this Christmas.

The Hunters subsoil their land to a depth of about 15 inches prior to planting the Virginia pine.

The Leylands are transplanted from gallon pots with holes dug by a one-man gasoline- powered auger.

Roundup herbicide is all the family uses to keep weeds away. A four-foot band is sprayed under the trees two or three times a year.

The sprayer used is a converted livestock sprayer with boom and shields added to protect the tree limbs, and is pulled by a garden tractor.

The center row is left green for customers, and is mowed with a riding mower and five- foot finishing mower.

Pine Top Moths pose the biggest problems to the pines. The Hunters use Dimicin 25W sprayed on the tops of trees to kill these pests. They alternate using Orthene and Cygon for aphid control.

About two weeks before harvest, the trees are sprayed with Malathion as a "clean up" for spiders and aphids.

The sprayer used for this is a gas powered solo mist blower attached by a three-point hookup to a 1500 Ford tractor.

The cypress, the family has found, is relatively insect free, though some bag worms are picked off.

Both varieties of tree are susceptible to fungus, so the Hunters spray the trees with Bravo and Clear X 3336 during the damp season in springtime.

The reasoning for the Christmas tree farm was two-fold for the Hunters.

Reason one was as a supplement to the family retirement income, with the other to provide a family-oriented place for people to come, choose and cut their own Christmas tree.

The Hunters had always hunted their Christmas trees as a family-affair, but with most forest land being leased and roads having been gated, this practice has all but been eliminated.

At the tree farm, the Hunters try to do things to appeal to other families as it does to theirs. They have an old wagon formerly used for hay rides and is now used to carry people around and look for trees.

An old Coca Cola truck has been remodeled with steps added in the back for the same purpose. Additionally, they use four-wheel all-terrain vehicles to pull trailers and bring trees in from the field.

The trees selected are put on a mechanical shaker to remove dead needles, while many bird nests are also shaken out. The nests are supposed to bring good luck during the coming year.

The trees are then baled, putting them in netting so they can be taken home without being damaged.

There are round hay bales children can play on at the Hunter place, along with some goats in a corral children can feed privet hedge to.

The latest addition to the farm is a 1948 Ford firetruck, bought from a local volunteer fire department. The tank was removed and seats added to carry children on rides around the farm.

Charlotte perks apple juice over spices to provide a tasty cider customers enjoy. This and coffee are furnished to visitors at no cost. However, the grandchildren do sell canned sodas, while Charlotte also makes and packages fudge for sale.

Crafts are sold from an old log barn moved onto the farm. The crafts are hand-made by relatives and neighbors.

Records are kept by receipts and canceled checks for the most part. In the tree business they use a Royal cash management system, allowing them to keep a record of each department's sales along with how many sales were made.

This helps them keep track of the craft sales made by consignees.

The tree farm is an ecological boon. One acre of the Christmas trees supplies oxygen for 18 people.

Trees cut down are replaced with new seedlings, and once the trees have been used they can be recycled in lakes for fish habitat, or in back yards as havens for birds.

The family tries to eat nutritious meals and get plenty of rest, though there's always work to be done.

Still, time is taken out for important family events, community meetings and church work.

Family traditions are important at the Hunter household, with all four children, their spouses and the 10 grandchildren gathering at the Methodist Camp meeting for 10 days each year.

The family is also all together at Christmas, though one daughter and her family must come all the way from Maryland.

With Kendall and Charlotte doing most of the labor on the tree farm, there is little time to maintain a large garden, though it was done in the past. Now, Charlotte puts up purple hull peas in the freezer and makes plum jelly and pickles all family favorites.

Kendall was the chairman at the Davidson Campground for 25 years and the director of the Clark County Ecumenical Resource Committee after the tornado hit Arkadelphia March 1, 1997.

He is a past director of the SCS in Clark County, a member of the Clark County Farm Bureau, past chairman and trustee of the Manchester Rural Community Improvement Club, past board member and president of the Arkansas Christmas Tree Growers Association, the Arkadelphia 2025 Commission, Clark County Courthouse Restoration Committee, River Valley Water Association, Manchester United Methodist Church and Methodist Men's Club.

He has also been elected to jurisdictional conference of the UMC in Albuquerque, NM for July, 2000.

Charlotte is a registered nurse and was public school nurse for 13 years, while spending 11 years as a nurse at Ouachita Baptist University.

She is the president of the Manchester Extension Homemaker Club, a Sunday School teacher at the Manchester Methodist Church, past president of RCI, a local rural community organization, was a 4-H leader when the children were involved in this program and a past assistant Girl Scout leader.

The Hunters plant about 1,500 trees a year by hand, with their children and their familie