- 10 - 
PRUNES: Yugoslav production and exports, 1920 to 1929 
Years 
Number of i 
trees . 
Production of; 
fresh prunes 
Yield ] 
per tree 
Exports of 
dried 
prune s a/ 
: Exports of 
. fresh plums b_/ 
Short tons < 
Pounds : 
Short tons ! 
Short tons 
192C 
56,824,891: 
727,316 i 
25.5 
: 53,000 
. 199 
1921 
59,023,768 
680,105 
29.8 : 
26,000 
: 1,431 
1922 
60,958,902. 
933,935 
• 30.6 
57,000 
: 113 
1923 
: 56,268,383 
983,031 
34.9 
: 62,000 
: 5,130 
1924 
: 49,670,000 
: 354,229 
: 14.2 
! 5,000 
: 1,507 
1S25 
: 52,567,655 
: 1,045,252 
- 39.7 
> 48,000 
. 3,424 
1926 
: 50,933,000 
: 1,082,335 
: 42.5 
: 52,000 
: 6,234 
1927 
: 48,801,107 
: 613,444 
: 24.9 
- 34,000 
: 6,364 
1928 
: 47,316,700 
: 506,290 
: 21.4 
: 20,000 
: 11,712 
1929 
: 
. 

:c_/ 12,000 
V 
Official source. 
a/ Crop years September to August. 
b/ Calendar years. (All fresh fruit is shipped before end of December.) 
c_/ Preliminary estimate. 
d/ Hot yet available. 
Causes for the decline 
*imong the causes most prominently advanced for the decline of the 
prune industry in the Kingdom are (1) tree losses resulting from the war; 
(2) low prices for prunes; ("5) expansion of the fresh prune markets; (4) 
unfavorable climatic conditions; (5) lac* of credit; (6) limited planting 
of new orchards, and (7) the spread of Lecanium Corni (Schildlaus) 
infestation. 
Opinions as to direct losses due to the wir very too widely to permit 
of any satisfactory estimate. It is certain that many orchards in Serbia 
were cut down and used for fuel during the invasion. It is also impossible 
to estimate the extent of the damage to the prune trees as a result of 
neglect while owners were away from their farms during the war. The low 
prices ruling on prunes since the ,var, however, have had t.vo important 
results. First, growers have seen no inducement to maintain plantings and 
second, an increased quantity of prunes has been used for the manufacture 
of "slivovica" and prune jam, particularly in areas located at some distance 
from transportation centers. 
The shipment . of fresh prunes is no doubt an increasing factor in the 
declining exports of dried prunes. Owing to the small crop of fresh fruits 
in France, Germany and other central European countries in 1928, there was 
a particularly good lemand for fresh Yugoslav prunes that season. Prices 
increased as the season advanced and growers found that they were able to 
realize better returns on fresh than or. dried prunes. In view of the labor 
involved in drying prunes together with the many regulations .vith which the 
dried prune industry is now s-irrounded, the average peasant in Yugoslavia is 
beginning to sell at least part of his crop in the fresh state ./hen the fresh 
prune market is favorable. 
