All maple syrup producers have a favourite tree - a champion
tree! It is usually a mature healthy tree of substantial diameter (in excess of
50 centimeters) that produces voluminous quantities of sap with a higher
concentration of sugar than other maple trees in the forest. My present
champion has a 30 degree hook at eye level and breaks off into two equally
sized branches reaching to a height of approximately 16 meters. It's a modest
champion by all accounts - producing two full two gallon buckets of sap with
2.8% sugar content on a good day. My neighbour's champion tree sits in a
preferred location in full sunlight in the corner of a field on the edge of his
sugarbush. It's a tree of some renown since one March day in 1973 it produced
12 gallons of sap, a feat not likely to be repeated since farmers these days
rarely hang more than two buckets on a tree. When asked about the tree's
longevity and prolificness my neighbour replied, "We only ever tapped that
tree one day to see what it would do."
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| Comfort Tree |
These trees pale by comparison with what is reputed to be
Canada's oldest sugar maple tree. The Comfort Tree stands on a
quarter acre plot near North Pelham Ontario and has been under the protection
of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority since 1961. Nicknamed "Old
Glory" by its original owners, the 500 year-old tree is 25 meters high and
has a circumference of 6 meters. It's a sure bet it hasn't been tapped in years
as it was reserved for everlasting protection by the Comfort family in 1946.
Since the volume of sap a tree produces is often directly proportional to the
number of leaves it has … can you imagine the volume of sap this tree might
have produced in its day?
Do you have a story to tell about your favourite tree or your champion
maple tree?
