TREE PRODUCTS 181 



where the leaf buds they are to nourish are 

 located. 



It is doubtless the so-called "root pressure 5 ' 

 (which we have been led to interpret as due to 

 osmosis) forcing the sap upward that causes it to 

 flow from the wound in the tree made by the 

 auger. To what extent the interference with the 

 supply of nourishment that was being convoyed 

 to the buds retards their development, might be 

 interesting matter for observation. 



But this is something that does not greatly 

 concern the sugar maker, and to which he doubt- 

 less never gives a thought. 



It is also interesting to conjecture whether it 

 might be possible by selective breeding to pro- 

 duce a variety of sugar maple that will furnish 

 sap in exceptional quantity and of unusual qual- 

 ity. The case is obviously different from that of 

 the sugar prune or the sugar beet, both of which 

 have been trained to increase their sugar content. 



But there is no doubt that different individual 

 sugar maples differ widely in their sap produc- 

 ing, or at least in their sap rendering, quality. 

 Presumably the difference may be due to the 

 size of the root system. But so far as I know 

 there are no accurate observations on the subject, 

 nor has anything been done to determine whether 

 a better race of sugar maples could be developed. 



