280 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



chestnut, elm, hickory, maple, oak, pine, sassafras, spruce, walnut or white- 

 wood tree planted on the highway, or on any boundary line between farms 

 or within six feet of such boundary. The municipality was entitled to be 

 recouped by the Provincial Treasurer to the amount of one-half the bonus 

 paid on such trees as at the expiration of three years remained alive, healthy, 

 and of good form, a sum of $50,000 being appropriated by the Act and set 

 apart as a fund for that purpose. 



This measure remained in force until 1896, when it was repealed as a 

 result of an investigation made by the Bureau of Forestry as to its opera- 

 tion. It was found that very few of the municipalities of the Province had 

 availed themselves of its provisions, so that after it had been for nine years 

 in full operation, only |4,308.78, or less than one-tenth of the fund appro- 

 priated had been expended, and that for various reasons it had failed to 

 commend itself to the public in most of the localities where a trial had been 

 made. This shortcoming combined with the fact that under any circum- 

 stances, the planting of trees in isolated lines, while contributing to tbe 

 beauty of the landscape, secures none of those practical advantages attained 

 by their growth in masses as in the original forest, induced the Legislature 

 to effect another change in the law. The measure substituted for the Act 

 of 1883 retained and extended the principle of vesting the ownership of 

 roadside trees in adjoining lot owners, making it applicable to all muni- 

 cipalities, without its adoption bj* special by-law being necessary in the 



Provincial Bonus Abolished. 



case of urban municipalities. While the Government bonus on tree plant- 

 ing was abolished, the municipalities were authorized to grant municipal 

 bonuses in encouragement of tree planting, provided they saw fit to do so. 

 The following is the full text of the Act : — 



1. A person owning land adjacent to any highway, public street, lane, 

 alley, place or square in this Province may plant trees on the portion thereof 

 contiguous to his land, but no tree shall be so planted that the same is or 

 may become a nuisance in the highway, or other public thoroughfare, or 

 obstruct the fair and reasonable use of the same. 



2. Any owner of a farm lot may, with the consent of the owner or own- 

 ers of adjoining lands, plant trees on the boundaries of the adjoining lot. 



3. Every tree so planted on such highway, street, lane, alley, place, or 

 square, shall be deemed to be the property of the owner of the lands adjacent 

 to such highway, street, lane, alley, place or square, and nearest to such 

 tree, and every such tree so planted on a boundary line aforesaid shall be 

 deemed to be the common property of the owners of the adjoining farms or 

 lots. 



4. Every growing tree, shrub or sapling whatsoever, planted or left 

 standing on either side of a highway for the purposes of shade or ornament 

 shall be deemed the property of the owner of the land adjacent to the high- 

 way and nearest to such tree, shrub or sapling. B. S. 0., 1887, c. 201, s. 3. 



3. — (1) The council of any municipality may pass a by-law for paying 

 out of municipal funds a bonus or premium not exceeding twenty-five cents 

 for each and every ash, basswood, beech, birch, butternut, cedar, cherry, 

 chestnut, elm, hickory, maple, oak, pine, sassafras, spruce, walnut, or 

 whitewood tree, which shall, under the provisions of this Act be planted 

 within such municipality on any highway, or on any boundary line of 

 farms as aforesaid, or within six feet of such boundary. 



(2) Such by-law may further provide for the appointment of an inspector 

 of trees so planted; for their due protection against injury and against 



