No. 4.] RURAL LAW. 197 



Mr. Ware. You say every town " shall " elect a tree 

 warden. In case some town docs not, what is the remedy? 



Mr. Dickinson. Apply to the Attorney-General, and get 

 him to ask the court to compel the town to do it. 



Secretary Stockwell. I would like to speak on this, 

 because it is of great interest to us now. This new law, 

 which was enacted in 1899, repeals previous laws, or in- 

 tends to do so. 



Mr. . We have a little feeling in our town that it 



is hardly right that the tree warden should be supreme. He 

 is above the selectmen and all other authority. We hope 

 the next Legislature will be asked to enact a law to protect 

 the individuals as well as the landscape. 



Mr. . I would like to ask in regard to rights of 



farmers where they own land bordering on a pond. What 

 would be the rights of those individuals, supposing that each 

 one wanted to cut ice ? 



Mr. Dickinson. On ponds the law is different from what 

 it is on streams. If he bounds on a stream, he owns to the 

 centre. He can go anywhere on the pond. If he marks out 

 his ice and leaves it until the next day, and some one takes 

 it away, he has lost his right to that ice. In a case where a 

 man cleared the ice ready to be cut, and a gentleman went 

 on to fish and cut through the ice, it was held that the right 

 to fish was as good as the right to cut the ice. 



Mr. Sessions. The following questions have been handed 

 me, w ith the request that they be submitted to the speaker : — 



Can an owner of land oblige his neighbor to contribute 

 his half to put up a sufiicient fence to enclose and protect 

 sheep ? 



" A " digs a well on his land. If " 15 " claims " A " has 

 drawn the water from his, *' B's," well, has " B" any action 

 for damage? 



Mr. Dickinson. In answer to the first question, I believe 

 he can, if both are keeping sheep. It may bo dillicult to 

 decide which part of the fence shall be constructed and ke[)t 

 by one party, and which by the other. I think an owner 

 can compel his neighbor to put up a proper sheep fence, 

 under the circumstances. It would be a question, in any 

 case, what was a proper sheep fence. 



