Here and there, a single line of prints peels off to a spruce tree.

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Native Americans introduced the sap of the spruce tree to early European settlers in New England.

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The Christmastime seasonal "Swaddling Ale, " for example, was a bit too heavy on spruce-tree extract.

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The tree itself, a Norwegian spruce (Picea abies), is chosen with great care.

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Tree species such as larch, spruce and pine will be felled and replaced by native varieties such as oak, hazel, rowan, alder and holly.

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Our headlamps played tricks with colour, turning new spruce tips silver and making a lichen-shagged tree sparkle.

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The spruce and pine trees all around are weighed down, more snow than tree, and the steep mountainside that falls away beneath the farm is hidden behind cloud.

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Now, with local unemployment nearing 14 percent, Spruce Pine is rebuilding around tourism and local crafts and is rebranding itself as the home of the perfect Christmas tree.

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