s article to take sides in that controversy, but rather to invite
attention of both sides to a safe and practical field for their
endeavors, namely, the reclamation of the "wasted lands" along the
roadsides, the farms along the highways.

During the War Garden campaigns of the past two years, these heretofore
largely unused strips of tillable land, forming in the aggregate
thousands of along-the-road acres in every state, received considerable
attention from the thrifty plow and hoe. But in the main, the results
were not encouraging. The public will trespass, unintentionally or
otherwise, upon the land cropped along the highway. Then, if the farms
by the side of the road are to be conserved--used by present as well as
future generations--there remains but one practical recourse: productive
trees.

The American people love beautiful trees, possibly the expression of a
reaction from the sentiment of the pioneers who regarded trees as their
enemies, handicaps to agriculture to be removed as thoroughly and
expeditiously as possible. But with virgin soil producing enormous
crops, they naturally centered their interest on ornamental trees
without reference to their fruits. Hence the horse-chestnut, buck-eye,
maple, locust, oak, poplar, along the highways and byways of America,
instead of the native nut trees and the Persian or English walnut.

And, speaking of highways, this is the age of concrete. Taking the hint,
I am selecting one concrete example of which I have intimate and
personal knowledge, well aware that there are numerous others that I
might cite were my acquaintance with practical nut culture more
extensive than it is. The one that I know about of my own personal
knowledge is, a very good example of the plain common sense of
productive trees which combine the useful with the ornamental.

IT READS LIKE A FAIRY TALE

In 1876 two Niagara County farmers, Norman Pomeroy and Matthew O'Connor,
neighbors, decided to go to the Centennial. They packed one carpet-bag
in common for their baggage and boarded the train for Philadelphia.
Although well to do farmers, their economic instincts warned them to
beware the profiteering hotel keepers. So they sought a humble boarding
house in the suburbs of the city. Returning one evening from
sight-seeing at the exposition, the travelers were so weary that they
retired immediately after supper. During the night Pomeroy was awakened
by a tapping on the window. Assuring himself th