[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:03.05]this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:06.55]Americans love Christmas trees.
[00:09.64]The National Christmas Tree Association says
[00:13.93]more than 35 million of them
[00:16.73]were bought last year in the United States.
[00:20.47]In large American cities,
[00:23.12]many people buy trees that have already been cut.
[00:28.12]But many people drive to a tree farm
[00:32.08]and cut them own tree.
[00:35.40]Some buy one from a catalogue or online,
[00:40.89]the tree is then delivered to their home.
[00:44.80]The National Christmas Tree Association
[00:48.49]represents growers and sellers
[00:52.25]of most of the farm-grown Christmas tress
[00:55.86]in the United States.
[00:57.83]It estimated that 10.9 million artificial trees
[01:03.31]were sold in 2012,
[01:05.92]compared to 24.5 million natural trees.
[01:12.23]The group says the average cost of a natural tree was $40,
[01:18.69]and about $70 for an artificial one.
[01:24.37]Most Christmas trees are now grown on farms.
[01:28.12]The trees take six to ten years to grow.
[01:32.92]In some states, fewer than half of the planted trees
[01:38.13]survived the weather conditions to become Christmas trees.
[01:43.01]To make sure there is always a supply,
[01:47.55]farmers usually plant one to three new saplings
[01:53.70]for every tree they cut down.
[01:56.85]The Christmas Tree Association says
[02:01.11]40 percent of people who bought natural trees last year
[02:06.01]chose them at a farm and cut the tree themselves.
[02:11.81]The Association says real trees are better for the environment,
[02:18.12]that is because as Christmas trees grow,
[02:21.61]they collect carbon dioxide and other gases
[02:26.17]while supplying fresh oxygen.
[02:29.60]The trees also protect water supplies.
[02:33.23]Christmas trees are grown on soil
[02:37.13]that does not support other crops.
[02:40.28]Some people throw away their natural tree
[02:44.98]when the holiday season ends.
[02:47.88]But many People recycle them.
[02:51.28]There are many ways to do this.
[02:54.59]Christmas trees can be cut up to be used as fertilizer.
[03:00.53]They can also be cut
[03:02.78]and used to provent the wearing down of soil.
[03:07.23]Christmas trees helped many communities near the ocean
[03:12.04]following tropical Storm Sandy
[03:14.63]on the eastern coast of the United States.
[03:18.49]They were placed near large hills of sand
[03:22.39]to prevent the sand from blowing away.
[03:26.54]Artificia trees which come mostly from China
[03:30.95]can be reused for years.
[03:33.71]Families use them for an average of six to nine years
[03:39.62]before throwing them away.
[03:42.08]These trees can remain in a landfill for hundreds of years.
[03:48.98]And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Special English.
[03:56.49]I'm Christopher Cruise.