Shearing West Virginia Balsam (Canaan) and Fraser Fir for Christmas Trees

Appendix Table 1. Classification of Defects Used in Grading Trees of West Virginia Balsam (Canaan) and Fraser Fir.¹


Factor	Minor Defect	Noticeable Defect	Culling Defect


Density	Slightly uneven	Moderately uneven	Severely uneven

Curvature Main	Visible crook 4”	Visibly curved >4”	Curved >6” from

Stem	or less from vertical	but <6” from vertical	vertical

Broken Branches	1 broken whorl near	Broken leader or >1	Main stem broken
	main stem	broken whorl branch	below top whorl or
			>3 broken branches
			near trunk

Physical Damage	Slight	Moderate	Severe

Multiple Leaders	Multiple leaders	Crows nest	Multiple main stems

Extra Long Branches	Branch >10” longer	N/A	N/A
	than others in same
	whorl

Weak Lower	Free from	Affecting up to 3/4 of	Affecting >3/4 branches
Branches		branches on bottom whorl	on bottom whorl

Incomplete Whorl	<1/4 branches miss-	1/4 but <1/2 branches	>1/2 branches missing
of Branches	ing in any one whorl	missing in any one whorl	in a whorl or missing
			branches create a shelf

Holes or Gaps in	Free from	Hole or space considerably	Shelf or decided gap
Tree		out of proportion with uni-	or space between
		form branch characteristics	whorls noticeable on
		of remainder of the tree	2 or more faces

Gooseneck	Free from	Free from	Any gooseneck

Loss of Needles	Slight	Moderate	Severe

¹ Descriptions of minor, noticeable, and culling defects used in grading Christmas trees. From: United States Standards for Grades of Christmas Trees, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, 1989.

Appendix Table 2. U. S. Standards Used for Grading Trees of West Virginia Balsam (Canaan) and Fraser Fir.


Criteria	U.S. Premium	U.S. No. 1	U.S. No. 2	Cull


Characteristics	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Typical of Species

Normal Taper	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
(Not <40% or >100%)

Fresh	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Cleanliness	Clean	Fairly Clean	Fairly Clean	No

Healthy	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Well-Shaped	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Density:
WV Balsam	80-100%	60-80%	40-60%	<40%
Fraser Fir	70-100%	50-70%	40-50%	<40%

Defect Allowed	Three faces with	Three faces with	Two adjacent faces	Does not
	not >1 minor;	not >2 minor; re-	with not >3 minor;	meet
	remaining face	maining face with	remaining faces	U.S. No. 2
	with not >1 minor.	not >1 noticeable. >2 noticeable.	standards.

¹ Criteria used for establishing grades of trees. From: United States Standards for Grades of Christmas Trees, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, 1989.