In 2008, Syracuse University professor of Art Sam Van Aken wanted to create a multi-colored tree for his an art project. Vak Aken was granted a 3-acre orchard from the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and started to graft buds from the 250 heritage varieties found on the orchard onto a single stock tree. Over the course of five years he successfully grafted dozens of plants onto the same tree and the ‘Tree of 40 Fruit’ was born.