No. 4.] RURAL LAW. 179 



a discussion was held as to the rights and duties of tree 

 wardens under this statute. It is hardly possible to exag- 

 gerate the adv^antages which miglit accrue to this Common- 

 wealth if the subjects thus encouraged by the Legislature 

 were taken up and thoroughly investigated and worked by 

 all our various city and town communities. A State with all 

 its highways set out with shade trees would be a novelty 

 indeed, and one which it can hardly be doubted would prove 

 a great attraction to many dwellers in other parts of the 

 country seeking beautiful homes for summer retreats or for 

 permanent residence. Let us hope that the planting and 

 protection of roadside trees may be made the special sub- 

 ject of action by all the towns at their next annual meet- 

 ings, if such action has not already been taken. Perhaps 

 appropriate action by the State Board of Agriculture would 

 go far towards securing so desirable a result. 



Hired Men. 

 The law governing the employment of labor is of consid- 

 erable importance to the farmer, and this kind of contract 

 should be made with care and exactness. The employer 

 should be certain that the person with whom he contracts 

 is more than twenty-one years of age and so is competent 

 to make his own agreements. Of course, if the employee 

 be a minor, the contract must be made in the boy's or girl's 

 behalf by the parent or guardian, in order to have any bind- 

 ing effect. Payments of money by the employer to a minor 

 employee are unauthorized except upon the order of the 

 minor's parent or guardian. A careful observance of these 

 legal principles will avoid disputes and possible litigation. 

 Another decision of great importance is this : that contracts 

 which are not to l)e performed within a year must be in 

 writing, or they will be considered void under the provi- 

 sions of the statute of frauds already referred to. In other 

 words, a valid oral contract can be made for employment, 

 say for the period of eleven months and any part of the 

 twelfth month ; but if it be for a year, neither party is 

 bound by it, and the employee, if he should leave the farm- 

 er's service, could recover for the time he has actually 

 worked ; whereas, if the contract were in writing and for a 



