The Cornell Sugar Maple Research and Extension developed trees
that will produce more of the delicious amber liquid. Here are
bottles of the finished syrup at the Uihlein Field Station,
Cornell University. Joyce Kilmer wrote that, “….only God can
make a tree.” But, did you know that scientists can help God
make trees with increased benefits? Take the example of Cornell
University and Sugar Maples. For four decades, the legendary
university has studied thousands of the sugary sap producers to
find whether genetics, environment or a combination of both
could produce dependable, stellar syrup production. The result
is the Cornell 'Super Sweet' Sugar Maple from the University's
Sugar Maple Improvement Program. The scientists knew that
environmental conditions are crucial. For example, open grown
trees produce more sap sugar content. But, what impact does
genetics play? The scientists decided to use cloned trees, which
would both produce identical offspring and yield seed in a
fraction of the time required by a tr