APPLE TREE SURVEY REVEALS TRENDS 



Points Up Opportunities for the Future 



More apples, fewer trees, and fewer but larger orchards — that sums up 

 the drastic ch?.nges that have taken place within the Massachusetts apple 

 industry during the past 30 years, as revealed by a series of three apple 

 orchard surveys taken in 1925, 1940, and 1956. Of course, these trends were 

 evident without surveys, nevertheless the last survey taken by fruit growers 

 under the sponsorship of the Massachusetts Fruit Growers^ Association and now 

 being summar.zed by Oliver C. Roberts and George W. Westcott of the Extension 

 Service of the University of Massachusetts, does throw a lot of light on 

 precisely what is happening within the industry. This information will enable 

 the leaders of the industry to plan with greater wisdom for the future. 



Since 1925, the number of fruit growers with 100 or more apple trees used 

 for commercial purposes has declined from 1754 to 371. Slightly over one 

 fifth still remain. And apple trees have decreased from almost a million 

 (984,564) to about one third of former numbers (344,335). This means that the 

 average size of orchard has increased from 560 to almost 930 trees. 



To the average onlooker this appears to be a dire situation. There is 

 common talk about fruit growing as a decadent industry. Even some fruit 

 growers tend to depreciate their own industry. This is understandable. Four 

 fifths of the orchards of 1925 have gone out of business. Obviously their 

 operators could not compete. They could not keep up with fast changing 

 techniques in production and marketing. For them the situation was black. But 

 that is only part of the story. 



Today, 371 apple growers are producing, on the average, almost 2.6 million 

 bushels annually as compared to 2.1 million bushels produced annually 25 years 

 ago by five times more growers with three times more trees'. Apple production in 

 southern New England is on the increase. With increasing production an industry 

 cannot be described as decadent. 



New England is the only region in the United States where apple production 

 is on the increase. This bears out contentions held by many over the years -- 

 that sourthern New England does have the advantages necessary to support a sound 

 apple industry -- natural conditions and unexcelled nearby markets. Combine 

 these with know-how equal to or better than that of our competitors and we have 

 what we have — a healthy prosperous growing industry. 



It is, of course, true that the industry is undergoing change — drastic 

 change -- and unless we can understand the nature of these changes, we tend 

 to become confused. We are apt to think only of the smaller less efficient 

 operators with marginal orchards on poor sites who are falling by the way 

 side,* and forget those efficient operators who are increasing the size of 

 their operations, their yields per tree, and the quality of their product which 

 in total is larger today than ever before. 



The informational analysis now being prepared from these surveys should 

 help us to see our industry in its true light. It should help us to realize 



* See Mr. Roberts' article in these Notes on "Causes of Orchard Abandonment." 



