282 PROTECTION AGAINST DRIFTING SNOWS. 



evergreen trees, with brnnches extending to the ground, like the Nor- 

 way spruce, and of sufficient widths to obstruct the sweeping winds and 

 moving snows. A siugle row of trees will seldom be sufficient for this 

 purpose, and generally at least three rows will be found necessary. 

 Wbere liable to injury from cattle might happen, <i light fence or hedge 

 of Osage or other thorns might be needed on the exposed sides. 



Believing that a law might secure the requisite authority for estab- 

 lishing such screens wherever needed, we submit the following draught 

 as embracing its essential provisions. Some modifications would be 

 necessary to apply it to the local organizations of town or county gov- 

 ernment in particular States. 



AN ACT for the plnnting of shelter-lielts for the protection of roads against drifting snows. 



Section 1. Be it enackd, <j-o., That the commissioners of highways [or other rfficera 

 having charge of town roads] are hereby authorized, upon application in writing by 

 three freeholders, rejireseuting that certain parts of the public liighways are liable to 

 obstruction from drifting snows, to summon a jury of six disinterested freemen, resi- 

 dent of the town, to view the premises and take evidence as to the facts alleged. If, 

 in the judgment of this jury, a shelter-belt of trees or shrubs along the border of the 

 highway would prevent the drifting of snows in winter, at the places specified, they 

 may, by an instrument in writing, tiled and recorded in the oflice of the town clerk 

 [or other local oftice of record], declare the necessity for protection within the dis- 

 tances specified, and a sufficient width of land may be surveyed and taken upon pay- 

 ment of its value, by agreement with the owner, or if not, by appraisal, in the same 

 manner as land is acquired for the opening of new roads. 



Skc. 2. The said commissioners are further authorized and required, afrer acquiring 

 the additional width of roadway as above mentioned, to cause the same to be planted 

 ■with at least three rows of evergreen trees, of such kinds as they may be deemed best 

 suited for the purpose, and as closely together as may bo necessary to afford, when 

 grown, a sufficient screen against drifting snows. 



Sec. 3. The middle of said shelter-belt shall be, as near as may be, on the outer lino 

 of the highway, as it existed before the belt was ordered, and the outer rows shall be 

 set opposite the spaces of the middle row, so as to best secure the objects for which the 

 planting is done. A sufficient fence for the temporary protection of the plantation 

 while young, may be built within the limits of the highway, not more than one rod 

 from the middle line of the proposed screen. 



Sec. 4. The planting, protection, and maintenance of such shelter-belt shall thence- 

 forth be a public charge, in the same manner as the repairs and mainteuauce of the 

 public highways. It shall be discretionary with the commissioners of highways to 

 apply the assessment of labor, of the owner of adjacent landp, to the planting and caro 

 of such shelter-belt, or to contract with some person skilled in the care of trees, .is 1 hey 

 may deem most effectual, for securing its proper growth and maintenance. They shall 

 be required to submit at the annual town meeting, a written report, with a i-tatemeut 

 of expenses incurred on this account, and such recommendations as they may deem 

 proper concerning it. 



Sec. 5. Whenever any railroad company now existing or that mny hereafter bo 

 formed undt r the laws of this State, shall deem it necessary to plant screens of ever- 

 green trees to prevent the drifting of snows in winter, and the width of their roadway 

 is not sufficient for this purpose, "they may acquire such additional width as may ap- 

 pear necessary for this purpose, in the same manner as laud may be taken for new 

 railroads ; but land so taken shall be used for no other purpose than the planting and 

 maintenance of shelter-belts as aforesaid, and if not planted, or if abandoned for this 

 use, the title shall revert to the owners of the adjacent lands. 



The value of screens against drifting snows has been recognized in 

 Europe, and they have sometimes been planted at considerable expense 

 and under difficult circumstances. The following account of the neces- 

 sities that led to this undertaking, and the methods employed in its 

 execution, will afford suggestions of value in like attempts at planting 

 in all snowy countries'; 



Roads laid out over mountains and elevated grounds are frequently blockaded by 

 the snow, the removal of which o^^casions every year a considerable expense. Travel 

 is especially liable to interruption in those places where the road is a deep cut, be- 



' Annah'8 dcs Fonts et Chauss^es, 3 ser., xvii, p. Ill (1H59), it being an article by M. 

 Compte-Grandchamps, engineer of roads and bridges. 



