NUT TREES FOR ROADSIDE PLANTING 97 



half the time with no fence or other protection against 

 raiders from the outside. For all practical purposes, this 

 amounts to roadside planting. It is true that in some 

 parts of California the stealing from groves and orchards 

 near the highway has become so serious that stringent 

 protective laws have had to be enacted. It is equally 

 true, however, that with or without the protection of 

 fences, wherever this sort of thieving occurs it is fairly 

 certain to extend into the orchards as well as along the 

 immediate borders of the highways. It must be conceded, 

 of course, that fruit or nuts grown outside a fence are more 

 tempting than those inside, and that a certain amount of 

 stealing from highway trees in excess of that which occurs 

 on private land must be expected and taken into consider- 

 ation. Experience in New York has shown that roadside 

 fruit trees have invited pilfering that extended well into 

 the orchards and upon the removal of the roadside trees 

 there was no further trouble, even though there was no 

 change in the fence. Fruit and nut trees are also liable 

 to mutilation by the would-be gatherers especially as the 

 tendency is to attempt to get the crop before it is mature. 

 On the other hand, it must be remembered that ex- 

 perience shows that the harvest of nuts from roadside 

 trees is clear gain, as compared with the non-producers, 

 and that the yield makes it worth while to undertake the 

 growing and protection of trees of the nut group if the 

 owner can be indifferent to the mutilation of the trees. 



In some European countries nut and fruit trees along 

 the roads are sources of material profit. These trees are 

 owned by the public, and the sentiment of the community 

 has been sufficient to protect the crops against marauders. 

 Even though we may assume the lack of any well devel- 

 oped protective sentiment in this country, the civil 

 authorities can easily provide regulations which will 

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