What's the story on these abandoned farm orchards? Why were they abandoned? 

 How large were they? 



In order to get an answer to these questions, rather definite information 

 was obtained in the current survey on 203 abandoned orchards. The average 

 size of these orchards was 14% acres ranging from 3 acres to 50 acres. The 

 principal reasons given for abandonment are shown as follows: 



Reason for abandoranent Percent 



Unprofitable 20.7 



Sold for house lots 15.0 



Owner deceased 12.3 



Undesignated 12.3 



Old age or ill with no j'oung generation to carry on 9.8 



Lost interest 7.9 



Converted to livestock including poultry 6.0 



Sold - new owner not interested 3.9 



Converted to market garden, field crops or hay 3.5 



Financial difficulty 3.4 



Other employment 1.5 



Tornado and hurricane 1.0 



Miscellaneous 2,7 



This can be summarized in these words: it takes a live, interested, 

 healthy, energetic, intelligent person to stay in the fruit growing business 

 today and make it pay. 



0. C. Roberts 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 

 WHAT IS A FRUIT TREE WORTH? 



As in many states, fruit growers in Illinois are losing trees because of 

 highway development. The difficilty confronting the growers is that there is no 

 basis on which to price their land and trees. To remedy the situation a special 

 committee of the Illinois Horticulture Society was appointed for the purpose of 

 deriving a standard on which to base tree evaluation. The following are the 

 committee's recommendations as to what a fruit tree is worth: peach trees should 

 be valued as $2.00 per year up to fifth year, 40<: per year from 5 to 16 years of 

 age, no gain in accumulated value between years of 16 and 20 and then a decrease 

 in value of 40^ per year from 20 years on. It was recommended that apple trees 

 should be valued at $3.00 per year up to the age of nine and an increase of $1,00 

 per year from 9 to 20 years. For apple trees of 20 to 25 years no increase in 

 value and from the age 25 and over a decrease in value of $1.00 per year. 



Using these formulas, the maximum value of a peach tree (at the age 16 to 20 

 years) would be $14.40 and for an apple tree (age 20 to 25 years) would be $38.00. 

 These formulations are for evaluation of fruit trees only. The committee recommend- 

 ed that the land prices be assessed separately and at the going land sale price 

 of the specific area. 



The tree value recommendations are to be compared with cost records obtained 

 from other states and if they are in accord the recommendations will be presented 

 to the Illinois State Horticultural Society for approval. 



— W. J. Lord 



