Hundreds of buyers vied for thousands and thousands of trees.

     Oh, Christmas tree, Oh, Christmas...OH! What's billed as the nation's largest Christmas tree auction - 70,000 trees, thousands of wreaths, countless holiday decorations - took place this year as in years past at the Buffalo Valley Produce Auction in Mifflinburg, Pa. Some 300 to 400 buyers from all over the East descended on Miflinburg and drove home with truckloads of trees. Lancaster Farming correspondent Liza Z. Leighton was on hand to witness the action and prepared a report for our current print edition. You can also catch it online at lancasterfarming.com

1959 Case 800 diesel from State College, Pa.

     Do you like old tractors? On the fourth Saturday of every month, we feature reader-submitted photos of old iron. They come in all colors and sizes, and from all over our readership area. For the 20 stars of our November Classic Tractor Gallery, check out page A52 or our print edition, or catch it online in the e-edition.

Roger Hoy checks out tractors at the Nebraska Test Laboratory. 

     Speaking of tractors, here's the buzz on newer models. You're  going to pay more but you're going to get more, at least in the way of pollution control Lancaster Farming staff writer Chris Torres called on Roger Hoy, director of the Nebraska Test Laboratory, while he was in Lititz, Pa., to talk to the annual Binkley and Hurst customer classic bash. New technology, according to Hoy, will mean that anyone driving a tractor through smoggy Los Angeles will find that his exhaust pipe is putting out air that's cleaner than the air going into the engine. Of course, if you see a guy driving a tractor on a Los Angeles freeway, you might wonder what he's mixing with the air that's going into his lungs.

One of 122 creches on display in New Haven, Conn.

     Creches in a dizzying array of styles from 22 different countries are on display in the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Conn. The exhibit of 122 different creches was organized and curated by the museum director, Lawrence Sowinski. The nativity sets are made from a wide variety of materials - cinnamon paste, for example, from Singapore, rolled newspaper from the Philippines, a Madonna and child of gold from Thailand. Lancaster Farming correspondent Suzanne Stahl paid a call on Sowinski and wrote a story for the food and family section of our current edition.