November 24, 2008. Ashe County, NC.. Guest workers, from Guatemala and Mexico, bale, ie wrap, the cut trees and set them out for the tractor that will haul them down the steep hillside. Most of the cutting and hauling is done by hand until a rough road can be reached. . Guest workers make up a vital part of the Christmas tree industry. During the busiest part of the season, the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, they arrive in from other areas of the country to make wreathes,cut, bale, and load trees. Many local workers are year round employees of the large farms, but without the foreign guest workers, the industry could not provide the numbers of tree that the country requires.
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