310 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



gate, bars, or fence and leave the same down or open, or shall maliciously or 

 injuriously sever from the freehold of another any produce thereof or anything 

 attaching thereto, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not 

 more than one year, or by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. — C. L., 

 chap. 181, sec. 49. 



And when the damages from the offense committed as above stated in section 

 forty-nine shall be to the owner of said tree or trees to the amount of twenty- 

 five dollars, the penalty shall be imprisonment in the State prison not exceed- 

 ing five years, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or 

 fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, in the discretion of the court. — 0. 

 L., chap. 181, laws 1835. 



Any person who shall willfully cut down or destroy any timber, or carry away 

 any timber cut down, * * * or any fruit, root, or plant, * * * or 

 any grass, hay, or grain standing or being on the land of another, and without 

 the leave or license of the owner, of the value of five dollars, shall be punished 

 by imprisonment in the county jail not more than sixty days, or by fine not 

 exceeding one hundred dollars. — 0. L., chap. 181, sec. 51. 



Every person who shall willfully commit any trespass, by entering upon the 

 garden, orchard, or other improved land of another, without permission of the 

 owner thereof, and with the intent to cut, take, carry away, destroy, or injure 

 the trees, grain, grass, hay, fruit or vegetables there growing or being, shall be 

 punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than thirty days or by 

 fine not exceeding twenty dollars. And if any of the offenses mentioned in 

 this or in the preceding section (51) shall be committed on the first day of the 

 week, or in disguise, or secretly in the night, the imprisonment shall not be less 

 than five days nor the fine less than five dollars. — 0. L., chap. 181, sec. 52. 



The law provides that any person who shall wrongfully take and carry away 

 any fruit tree, ornamental tree, bush, plant, vine or vegetable with the intent 

 to deprive the owner thereof of the same ; or shall with wrongful intent detach 

 them from the ground or injure them in any manner, shall be guilty of a mis- 

 demeanor, and on conviction may be imprisoned in the county jail not more 

 than six months, or fined not exceeding $250, or the court may impose both. — 

 C. L., chap. 181, law 1855. 



It will be found upon examining the laws to which I have referred, that .the 

 statutes define the nature and degree of the various offenses which may be 

 committed by depredators, whether crimes of greater or less degree, and have 

 made definite provision for the punishment of each. 



It is a principle of common law that "the intent and the act must concur to 

 constitute the crime." Children between the ages of seven and fourteen are 

 prima facie incapable of committing crimes, while those above the age of four- 

 teen are subject to the same rules of construction as those of full age. 



The legislature of 1873 passed a law for the formation of companies for the 

 detection and apprehension of horse-thieves and other felons. — Session laws 

 1873, page 55. 



Under the provisions of that law, any ten persons, residents of this State, may 

 form a company, by signing articles of association : stating the name of the com- 

 pany, the name and residence of each of its members, and file and record the same 

 in the office of the register of deeds in the county in which a majority of the 

 members of the company reside. When the articles of association are so 

 recorded the company will be a body corporate, and may sue and be sued ; may 

 appoint officers and define their duties; may admit and expel members; may 

 hold and possess real and personal property to the amount of ten thousand 



