PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Most families swarming over Christmas tree lots from Bangor to Malibu have a vision of the kind of tree they want to take home: lush, fragrant, dense.
What consumers won't see is the science that goes into producing some of the 35 million live trees they're expected to buy this holiday season.Growers are experimenting with genetic improvements in hopes of producing a faster-growing, more disease-resistant tree.
"It means a better product for the consumer. If you end up with a better product, it's obviously easier to sell," said Duane LaCasce, who has 120,000 trees growing in Dover-Foxcroft.
The Maine Christmas Tree Association has two seed farms with parent trees -- or phenotypes -- deemed by growers to be genetically superior based on color, shape and other characteristics.
Seedlings from those balsam firs are already growing at farms across the state. Growers say they can see a difference.
"We're on our way," said Maxwell McCormack, a retired University of Maine forestry professor who contributed to the effort by seeking out tannenbaums so special he had to look at thousands.
It works like this: Maine growers have selected the creme de la creme of trees based on shapeliness, rich color, fast growth, needle retention and resistance to disease and insects.
Growers transplanted cuttings from those balsam firs onto root stock. The resulting trees were grouped together on seed farms so the pollination process is not contaminated by "inferior stock."
Perfectionists may even bag the flowers and use a syringe to shoot pollen inside to ensure there is no contamination, McCormack said.
"Even now, we can see that the seedlings that are for sale to members of the association are larger than the run-of-the-mill seedlings produced in a good nursery," McCormack said.