ASSOCIATIONS FOR RURAL IMPROVEMENT. 219 



cers shall be elected at the annnal meeting, and shall hold their offices until their snc- 

 sessors shall have been elected. 



Art. IV. It shall be the duty of the president, and, in his absence, of the senior vice- 

 president, to preside at all meetings of the association, and to carry out all orders of 

 the executive committee. 



Art. V. It shall be the duty of the secretary to beep a correct and careful record of 

 all proceedings of the association, and of the executive committee, in a book suitable 

 for their preservation ; to give notice of all meetings of the association and of tho 

 executive committee; to make all publications, and to give all public and private 

 notices ordered by the executive committee, and to attend to all the correspondence of 

 the association. 



Art. VI. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to keep the funds of the association, 

 and to make such disbursements as may be ordered by the executive committee. 



Art. VII. It shall be the duty of the executive committee to manage all the affairs 

 of the association, to employ all laborers, to make all contracts, to expend all moneys, 

 and generally to direct and superintend all improvements which, in their discretion, 

 and with the means at their command, will best serve the public interests. The ex- 

 ecutive committee shall hold a meeting at least once in each month, and as much 

 oftener as they may deem expedient. The executive committee shall have power to 

 institute premiums to be awarded for planting and protecting ornamental trees, and 

 for doing such other acts as may seem to them worthy of such encouragement. They 

 shall also encourage frequent public meetings of the association and of citizens gener- 

 ally, both with a view to maintain an interest in their work, and for the general en- 

 couragement of the habit of meeting for discussion and amusement. 



Art. VIII. Three members of the executive committee present at any meeting shall 

 constitute a quorum for transacting business, and the vote of a majority of those jires- 

 ent shall be binding on the association. 



Art. IX. No debt shall be contracted by the executive committee beyond the 

 amount of available funds within their control to pay it, and no member of this asso- 

 ciation shall be liable for any debt of the association beyond the amount of his or her 

 subscription. 



Art. X. Every person over fourteen years of age who shall plant and protect a tree 

 under the direction of the executive committee, or who shall pay the sum of one dollar 

 annually and shall obligate him or herself to pay the same for three years, shall be a 

 member of this association ; and every child under fourteen years of age who shall 

 pay or shall become obligated to pay as before the sum of twenty-five cents annually 

 for three years, shall be a member of this association. 



Art. XI. The payment often dollars annually for three years, or of twenty-five dol- 

 lars in one sum, shall constitute a person a member of this association for life. 



Art. XII. The autograph signatures of all members of the association shall be pre- 

 served iu a book suitable for that purpose. 



Art. XIII. An annual meeting of the association shall be held, at such place as the 

 executive committee may direct, on the fourth Wednesday of Augtist, at 2 o'clock x>. 

 m. Notice of such meeting shall be posted on each of the churches and at the post- 

 office at least seven days prior to the time of holding said meetings, and a written notice 

 shall be sent to all non-resident members. Other meetings of the association may 

 be called by the executive committee on seven days' notice as above prescribed. 



Art. XIV. At the annual meeting the executive committee shall report the amount 

 of money received during the year, and the source from which it has been received; 

 the amount of money expended during the year, and the objects for which it has been 

 expended; the number of trees planted at the cost of the association; the number 

 planted by individuals, with the location, the kind of tree, and the name of the planter ; 

 and, generally, all of the acts of the committee. This report shall be entered on the 

 record of the association. 



Art. XV. Any person who shall plant a tree under tho direction of the executive 

 committee, and shall protect it for five years, shall be entitled to have such tree known 

 forever by his or her name. 



Art. XVI. This constitution may be amended by the executive committee, with the 

 approval of the majority of the members present, at any annual meeting of the associa- 

 tion, or any special meeting, the notice of which shall have been accompanied by a 

 copy of the proposed amendment, with the statement that the amendment is to be 

 voted on at such meeting. 



It is obvious that attractive plantations of parks and public grounds 

 in towns and villages must become objects for imitation of greater or 

 less extent, as fashions spread from one example to another, and that 

 they may serve as nuclei of forest culture. It would be still more grati- 

 fying should they become a subject of emulation between neighboring 

 villages, and more especially if this rivalry aimed at the production 



