paper? If not, it will be received and filed in the proceedings.
It is now near the noon hour and I think it would be well to have Mr.
Jones or Mr. Rush state what program has been arranged for this
afternoon.
MR. J. F. JONES: I believe the plan is to get dinner here, and
then to go to our nursery at Willow Street. From there some machines
will take the parties who do not have conveyances, around to other
points.
THE SECRETARY: Mr. President, in accordance with Article V of
the Constitution, I move that a committee of five members be elected for
the purpose of nominating officers for the ensuing year.
(Motion seconded and carried.)
THE SECRETARY: Mr. President, I move that Mr. Olcott be named
the chairman of that committee.
Mr. J. F. Jones, Mr. John Rick, Mr. Ernest M. Ives and Mr. C. S.
Ridgeway were nominated as members of said committee.
Messrs. Olcott, Jones, Rick, Ives and Ridgeway having been nominated
were on motion duly elected members of a committee to nominate officers
for the ensuing year in accordance with Article V. of the Constitution.
On motion the meeting adjourned until 8 p. m. same day.
EVENING SESSION
October 6, 1921, 8 p. m.
_Hotel Brunswick_
PRESIDENT LINTON: A recess was taken from the morning session
until this time for the purpose of considering a roadside planting bill
that might be recommended by this association to the authorities of
every state in the Union. In order to bring this about we will have
presented to you by Senator Penney, who was the introducer of the
original bill that became a law in the Michigan legislature, a copy of
the laws practically as they exist in our state today. We take a little
pride in Michigan in being the first state to work along this particular
line. Our agricultural college staffs, the highway department and
several other branches of the Michigan government, are heartily and
enthusiastically co-operating in this work. I have in my hand a notice
that has been sent out by the state highway commissioner of Michigan to
every highway commissioner in the state. We have about two thousand of
the latter. We have in the neighborhood of two thousand townships six
miles square and in each of these townships we have a supervisor, we
have a highway commissioner and we have members of what is known as the
township board. This notice that I have, and you will see it is quite
complete and goes into a number of details, is sent by our state highway
commissioner to each one of the township commissioners of north
Michigan, and he closes his letter accompanying it with this:
Fourth: (President Linton reads).
You will see from that that we are well under way in connection with
roadside planting in our state of Michigan. I now take pleasure in
presenting to you a member of our legislature who introduced the first
bill that became a law along these particular lines, Senator Harvey A.
Penney of Michigan.
SENATOR PENNEY: In the legislature of Michigan several bills
have been introduced by its members, but as I stated at the last
convention they were not drawn up in such a way that they were fitted
for our laws. As Mr. Littlepage said it takes quite a while to figure
out a law that fits your own state law. These several laws were
introduced but in some way or another the committees of the legislature
never took kindly to them and they were not passed. But two years ago I
had a bill passed. Since then we have seen some imperfections and we
passed another law at the last session of the legislature which provides
that the cost of planting trees and caring for them shall come out of
the maintenance fund, that is, the maintenance fund that provides for
the maintenance of highways. I don't know how the laws are in most of
your states but in Michigan the law is that the owner of land owns not
only his farm but the land to the center of the highway subject to the
right of the public to have the use of it for travel. Then how are you
going to plant trees on a man's land if the highway belongs to that man?
They did it on the theory that the trees were necessary for the
maintenance of the highway. There never has been a test case on this law
but the highway department has a very able lawyer who was in the
attorney general's office and since then has been elected circuit judge
of the county in which Lansing is located. His idea was that the trees
should be planted on the highway for the purpose of protecting the
highway, and the cost of planting them and taking care of them should be
taken out of the maintenance fund. So that is the theory upon which they
are working under this bill.
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A BILL to provide for and regulate the planting of useful,
memorial, ornamental, nut bearing and other food producing trees,
shrubs, and plants along the streets, highways and other public
thoroughfares and places within the State of (Michigan); and for
the maintenance, protection and care of such trees and shrubs as a
part of the maintenance of the roads in certain cases; and to
provide a penalty for injury thereof, or for stealing the products
thereof,--
_The People of the State of (Michigan) enact:_
1 Section 1. The (State Highway Commissioner) is hereby authorized
and empowered
2 and it shall be his duty to select and plant by seeds,
3 scions or otherwise, useful, ornamental, nut bearing and other
food producing trees, shrubs and plants
4 suitable for shade, maintenance and protection of the highways
5 along State trunk line and Federal aided roads and for the use
and benefit of the public, and to care for and maintain all such
trees, shrubs or plants.
6 The care of such trees shall be deemed a part of the road
maintenance work.
7 The varieties or species
8 so planted shall be subject to the approval of the
9 (State Department of Agriculture) and may be supplied
10 by the (State Agricultural College) or other State Institution
or Department, or elsewhere acquired by the
11 (State Highway Commissioner). The (State Highway Commissioner)
12 shall make and publish rules and regulations for the
13 planting and proper placing of trees, shrubs or plants and for
their proper
14 pruning, care and protection under the provisions of this act,
and all
15 such planting shall belong to the State, but the owner of
16 the adjacent land shall have the right to take and use the
products thereof.
17 All expenses incurred in planting or caring for such trees and
shrubs along
18 trunk line and Federal aided roads of the State shall be paid in
the same manner as is or may be provided
19 by law for the payment of the cost of maintaining trunk line or
Federal aided roads.
1 Sec. 2. Counties, townships, cities and villages of the State are
2 hereby authorized to appropriate money for the purpose of
planting,
3 caring for and protecting useful, memorial, ornamental, nut
bearing and other
4 food producing trees, shrubs and plants along and within streets,
highways, thoroughfares and other public places
5 other than trunk line or Federal aided
6 roads, within the respective limits of such municipalities and
7 subject to the jurisdiction thereof. The expenditure of any such
fund
8 raised hereunder in a township shall be vested in the
9 (highway commissioner) of the township subject to the approval of
the township board.
10 Any such fund raised by a county shall be expended by and under
the
11 direction of the (board of county road commissioners;) and
12 any such fund raised in a city or village shall be expended by
the highway or other proper municipal board or authority
13 thereof, in accordance with its charter laws or ordinances or
under the direction of the common council
14 or legislative body of such city or village. All such
15 appropriations made under this section by any municipality shall
16 be made in the same manner as is or may be provided by law for
17 the raising of money for highway or park maintenance purposes.
Sec. 3. Trees may be planted along the highways or other public
places by proper authorities and designated as memorial trees for
the purpose of commemorating important military or civic events, or
in memory of any person distinguished for noteworthy acts, or for
conspicuous service in behalf of the nation, the State of Michigan
or any local community thereof. Suitable tablets, boulders or other
markers of a permanent character may be contributed by any person,
or by any civic or military association and placed in conjunction
with such memorial trees subject to the approval and consent of the
proper authorities in control or in direct charge of such highways
or public places. that
1 Sec. 4. The owner of any real estate in the state of (Michigan)
that
2 borders upon a public highway other than a trunk line, Federal
aided or
3 county road shall have the right to, plant useful, ornamental,
4 nut bearing and other food producing trees and shrubs along
5 the line of said highway adjoining said land, and within the
limits thereof,
6 and shall receive annually a credit of twenty cents upon his
7 highway repair tax for each tree so planted and growing in good
order: Provided, however,
8 That all such planting shall be done in accordance with the
9 rules and regulations prescribed by the (State Highway
Commissioner)
10 for the planting of trees along trunk line and
11 Federal aided roads. Said trees and shrubs and the products
12 thereof shall be subject to the same incidents as to ownership
and use as are
13 provided for in section 1 hereof with respects to trees planted
14 along and within trunk line highways. No bounty shall be paid
15 or deduction allowed under the provisions of this section upon
any tree or trees for a longer period than five years.
16 The owner of the adjoining land shall have the care of such
17 trees and shrubs and shall have the duty and responsibility
18 for the trimming, spraying and cultivation thereof unless
otherwise provided in the charter, ordinances, or other regulations
of incorporated cities and villages.
19 In case any such tree or shrub should become diseased or shall
in any manner
20 interfere with the public use of the highway the authorities
21 having jurisdiction over such highway may by written notice
22 require the owner of the adjoining land to cut and remove such
trees or shrub.
23 If such notice is not complied with within thirty days after
24 service thereof such authorities may cut and remove such
diseased
25 or obnoxious tree or shrub.
1 Sec. 5. The (State Board of Agriculture) and other State
Departments having lands and facilities therefore are hereby
2 authorized to acquire and grow suitable seeds, scions, and
3 trees for planting under the provisions of this act and to
4 establish proper rules and regulations for the distribution
thereof at
5 nominal cost, or otherwise, to the State, to municipalities of
the State, and to
6 private citizens for the purposes hereby contemplated.
Sec. 6. It shall be unlawful to cut, destroy or otherwise injure
any shade or ornamental tree or shrub growing within the limits of
any public highway within the State of Michigan without the consent
of the authorities having jurisdiction over such road. In the case
of a trunk line of Federal aided road the (State Highway
Commissioner) shall be deemed to have such jurisdiction in all
cases. It shall also be unlawful to affix to any tree or shrub any
picture, announcement, notice or advertisement, or to negligently
permit any animal to break down or injure the same. Any person
violating any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed to be
guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished
by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment
in the county jail for a period not exceeding thirty days, or by
both such fine and imprisonment within the discretion of the court.
Now some of the farmers along the road say that the trees will be
diseased, but I don't think that nut trees as a rule, or shade trees,
are affected very much with pests. The elm trees have been troubled
somewhat. In the West where we live I don't think there is any trouble
of that kind. There may be with apple trees and fruit trees.
Our agricultural college at Lansing has at the present time one hundred
thousand trees ready to plant under this bill. There are some that they
have been raising for a long time and some they have recently planted.
They hardly knew what to do with them. Now they have agreed to turn them
over to the state to be planted on our highways.
One thing that we had trouble with in Michigan was the telephone and
telegraph companies stringing wires along the public highway. They have
cut the top of the tree right straight off and disfigured the tree and
disfigured the appearance of the highway. This bill is supposed to
prevent that. Our highway department has been trying to get the
telephone and telegraph companies to get the right from private owners
to put their poles on private land, or to put a pole and let an arm
stick out through the tree without cutting the tree down. I recently
came from Detroit. There the telephone companies have started to string
lines and to cut trees. The highway commissioner has notified them that
they must not cut the trees down or cut them off or disfigure them and
he has introduced the state constabulary to enforce this ruling.
Undoubtedly sooner or later there will be a test case to determine
whether or not the state has this authority.
I listened this afternoon to a discussion about walnut trees shading the
highway. I have no practical experience to know whether these trees do
any damage to crops on account of the shade, but supposing you raised a
fine walnut tree along the highway and the tree begins to bear. Would
not the products you get from that tree more than offset the damage it
does to a crop close to the tree? I once had an aunt, when I was a very
small boy, and it seems to me she said that she raised forty bushels of
black walnuts on one tree. I saw that big hickory tree today. They
claimed they raised fifteen bushels on that tree. I thought forty
bushels was a lot to come off of one tree.
MR. BIXBY: That was in the husk. There have been records of
that kind in the husk.
SENATOR PENNEY: This bill has been introduced and passed and
Mr. Linton, who is practically the author of this bill, is desirous of
having this followed up in the different states. I think it would be a
good plan. What better investment could you make to beautify our
highways than the planting of good trees? In the southern part of the
state of Michigan there are quite a lot of good trees, black walnuts,
butternuts, which not only add beauty to your highways but are useful in
many ways. During the war we know that the government scoured the whole
country to find walnut trees to make stocks for guns, and to use in
airplanes for propeller blades. They used the shucks to make gas masks.
The trees could be made of further service to man by planting them as
memorial trees. And again they furnish food, not only bear leaves but
food.
I would like to hear a discussion upon this bill from those who are from
other states. I would like to hear what their opinion might be as to the
different provisions of this bill.
PRESIDENT LINTON: The subject is now open for discussion. I am
sure that there are those here who would perhaps offer amendments to
that bill. They might desire to modify it some. They might desire to add
other features to it. For instance, it might be well to recognize the
desire at the present time to save useful bird life throughout the
country. That might be stated in the title to this bill as one of the
purposes of roadside planting. Certainly that would be one of the
results of road side planting.
SENATOR PENNEY: The bill provides not only for planting trees,
but for planting shrubs along the highway. That created quite a fight in
the legislature. One fellow thought we were going to buy a whole lot of
nursery stock and spend a pile of money. We are not. But here was the
idea. Those shrubs are useful not only for furnishing food for birds,
that are necessary to farmers, but are useful sometimes to prevent
shifting sand, and also snow from covering the highways. You have often
noticed that the railroad companies put up fences at different points to
prevent snow from drifting on the tracks. Bushes can serve the same
purpose.
PRESIDENT LINTON: The subject is now before the body for
discussion.
MR. LITTLEPAGE: To print the newspapers in the United States it
requires enough wood each year to make one cord of timber from Boston
clear across the American continent and across to the Hawaiian Islands
and further. Most of that, perhaps half of it, comes from Canada. There
is cut from the forests of the United States every year timber to make
wood pulp enough to make one cord of wood from Boston to Liverpool. That
is just for newspapers. That has nothing to do with furniture, with
houses, with cross ties, with everything else, which are estimated to
take four times as much. Now if that be true there is cut every year
from the forests of the United States enough timber to make four cords
from Boston to Liverpool. That is going on every year. We met here seven
years ago. In that seven years there has been enough timber cut from the
forests of the United States to make twenty-eight cords of wood from
Boston to Liverpool. Now when you begin to contemplate that you see what
is happening.
Roadside planting furnishes one of the greatest opportunities. There are
many details that will have to be worked out. The bill which the Senator
and our distinguished President have given much consideration to seems
to be working along the right lines. Many difficulties will come up from
time to time but this is one of the things that this Association ought
to get behind. Here is a great need, a fundamental need, when you think
of the figures which I gave you. Here is one of the opportunities to
fulfill that need. We, as an organization of tree planters, ought to get
busy to help to work out the details and difficulties that cannot be all
foreseen in the application of the machinery of roadside planting and
the particular laws of each state. Some people think sometimes that
because a fellow is a lawyer he knows all the laws. There are
forty-eight different states in the Union. I know that every state in
the Union has a statute of limitations. It is three years in the
District of Columbia. It is six years here. The fundamentals, the
machinery of laws, are different in these particular states. Now then,
what are the duties and what are the opportunities? A duty and an
opportunity are rather more or less synonymous after all. It is for this
Association to get actively behind this proposition, and help adapt this
legislation to each particular state, keeping in mind that the
fundamental thing is to plant trees. We are meeting here in Lancaster,
Pa., a city to which I have always turned my thoughts with great pride,
because here was the home of the founder of the great common school
system of America, Thaddeus Stevens. Do you suppose when he began to
originate the system which has made America that he could foresee all
the difficulties, that he could foresee the difficulties in Texas, in
Indiana, in New York? He started with a principle, and that principle
has been adopted and developed and worked out in each particular state,
until we have the great forty-eight different big school systems of
America. We can take this proposition and by working it out, adapting it
to the particular machinery, the particular laws, and meeting the
particular difficulties, we can work it out until it becomes a great
monument. We must plant trees.
MR. MCGLENNON: I want to say a word with regard to Senator
Penney's reference to the importance of shrubs as a protection to the
roadways from shifting sand. Mr. Volbertsen, my collaborator in my
filbert enterprise in Rochester, got his early education in horticulture
in Germany when a young man of twenty years of age, and he informed me
the other day that along the side of the railroads' right of way,
filberts were planted very extensively, in different parts of Germany,
for the maintenance of the roadbed, to protect them from shifting sand.
Not only that but they garnered wonderful crops of nuts.
MR. O'CONNOR: Concerning the planting of trees along the
roadside, what enemies have they? I have watched this very closely since
I have been connected with Mr. Littlepage's farm and I find that the
walnut trees and pecan trees have very few enemies. I think that he has
something like four hundred trees, and there were not three of them that
were troubled with caterpillars. What better could we have along our
road sides than nut trees when from the oak, the elm and other trees
there are pesky worms dropping down when you go along with an automobile
or carriage.
PRESIDENT LINTON: I want to say to the ladies present that the
ladies of Michigan are greatly interested in this work. We recently
established a state trunk line highway known as the Colgrove Highway,
named for the President of our Michigan State Good Roads Association.
Senator Penney was the introducer of that bill also and it became a law.
That particular road runs across our state in such a way that it is
about three hundred miles in length. One county that it crosses is known
as Montcalm County. At a meeting we had in their court house we had a
committee named in each township through which the highway passed for
the purpose of properly planting trees and beautifying that highway.
Upon my return home I received a letter from the county judge saying
that the people of Montcalm County would not stand for planting and
beautifying that one road alone but the whole county has been organized
and every township in it and half of the membership of each committee is
composed of women, and they want these trees and plants on every
township road as well as on that state road. That is the way in which
the work is going along in many sections of our state and it will soon
cover it all with the same enthusiasm. So that the ladies can be of
great good in this organization also. There is not a home or a residence
street but desires fine shrubs and fine trees. It is especially so with
the farmers. They want these beautiful things that the city people have
been having for many years in their front yards. They are going to
demand shrubbery and trees beyond any call that ever has been made for
them in the past. So you can readily see from our work, although much of
it is to be carried on in a public way by our agricultural colleges and
state institutions of that kind, that they will be able to furnish only
one tree or one plant in a hundred of those that will be demanded. That
feature I wish especially to impress upon the minds of any nurserymen
that may be present. The call in the next decade is going to be along
those lines, for ornamental shrubbery and for useful trees, just as the
fruit tree has been called for in the past.