NUT TREES FOR ROADSIDE PLANTING 9 7 
half the time with no fence or other protection against 
raiders from the outside. For all practical purposes, this 
amounts to roadside planting. It is true that in some 
parts of California the stealing from groves and orchards 
near the highway has become so serious that stringent 
protective laws have had to be enacted. It is equally 
true, however, that with or without the protection of 
fences, wherever this sort of thieving occurs it is fairly 
certain to extend into the orchards as well as along the 
immediate borders of the highways. It must be conceded, 
of course, that fruit or nuts grown outside a fence are more 
tempting than those inside, and that a certain amount of 
stealing from highway trees in excess of that which occurs 
on private land must be expected and taken into consider¬ 
ation. Experience in New York has shown that roadside 
fruit trees have invited pilfering that extended well into 
the orchards and upon the removal of the roadside trees 
there was no further trouble, even though there was no 
change in the fence. Fruit and nut trees are also liable 
to mutilation by the would-be gatherers especially as the 
tendency is to attempt to get the crop before it is mature. 
On the other hand, it must be remembered that ex¬ 
perience shows that the harvest of nuts from roadside 
trees is clear gain, as compared with the non-producers, 
and that the yield makes it worth while to undertake the 
growing and protection of trees of the nut group if the 
owner can be indifferent to the mutilation of the trees. 
In some European countries nut and fruit trees along 
the roads are sources of material profit. These trees are 
owned by the public, and the sentiment of the community 
has been sufficient to protect the crops against marauders. 
Even though we may assume the lack of any well devel¬ 
oped protective sentiment in this country, the civil 
authorities can easily provide regulations which will 
