FIFTEENTH ANNUAL AI FETING. 95 



siderable kickiii"- on different snbjects at different times, and 

 so at the last election they made me tree warden. I have 

 begam to realize that the tree warden has control of the shade 

 trees in the town in which he lives, which in my town is all 

 of them, because there is no public park department, and a 

 public shade tree is defined by the statutes as any tree within 

 the limits of the public highway over six inches in circum- 

 ference and two inches in diameter. According to my friend 

 Judge Root, the telephone, electric light and trolley companies 

 are exempt from any damages they may do, because if you 

 try to g-et after them, it will cost you more to do it than you 

 will g^et out of them in the end, and all I can say is that this 

 Socie.ty had better advocate the repeal if possible at the next 

 legislature of all the laws reg'ardingf trees, and pass one or 

 two that will cover the whole subject, and bring a test case 

 to the Supreme Court, and find out what the duties of a tree 

 warden are. and then elect them not as a political office, and 

 not let it get into the control of your telephone, telegraph or 

 electric light companies, but make it a public service office 

 for the beauty of your town and state. Find out where you 

 are at, and then get a meeting of your tree wardens, and 

 find out how they will conduct this business. 



Mr. Hale : If we can get a new man Hke that in every 

 town, things will begin to hum. I will now call on Prof. 

 Gulley. 



What Results May Be Expected. 



By Prof. A. G. Gulley, Tree Warden, Mansfield. 



Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen : I should judge 

 from what we have heard we won't get much results. There 

 is nothing left for us to do, after hearing what the laws are 

 in this state, and I must confess that is the first thing I didn't 

 know anything about. I was one of those fellows elected 

 last year, and I went to our town (^lerk and asked what I had 

 to do, and he didn't know, and so we asked a few lawyers, 

 but we found out they didn't agree. Now Judge Root has 

 just quoted to us about fifty statutes, and I am blamed if I can 



