I know a man who had almost 160 acres of river-bottom hickories. During his lifetime he was very careful about those trees. He would cut the brush around the trees and harvest those hickory nuts as if it was a crop of corn or beans. Upon his death his children were scattered over the various states. They didn't care anything for this hickory grove. It's been cut. Now there is a bulldozer in there trying to clean out those hickory stumps. They are not making much progress. All you now have in that farm is 160 acres of old tree stumps, wild honey-suckle vines, poison ivy and poison oak, and even a coon hunter gripes when he has to take his dogs through there on a coon hunt. Those heirs care nothing about it.
In selling land it doesn't make any difference whether it's a sale to a neighbor, or to a friend or a stranger, you should protect any trees that you have growing upon that land by what we term a covenant running with the land, and that means if a deed is made it will provide that certain trees shall not be cut within a certain period of time. In one case where I am forced to sell some land I am protecting the trees for 10 years.
Each of these situations requires research under your own state laws. I had hoped to be able to tell you something definite and precise as to each situation, but when I considered the membership in the Northern Nut Growers, the many states it covers and the great difference in the state laws, it's just impossible to lay your hand upon one set of facts that governs. You should consult your attorney who is dealing with your transactions and tell him specifically what you have in mind and what you want to protect. He will know whether your state recognizes covenants running with your land and what provision can be made to protect trees that you want to save or secure damages.
Remember, in any transaction, if it is not in the written instrument that you sign, it's just an oral agreement that you make on the side, and it doesn't mean a thing. It has to be in the paper that you sign.
As I mentioned briefly, in what they call "eminent domain", the state has a right to take property for public use. The only thing you can do there is just get your head square and fight, and if you are stubborn enough, you may find someone in the organization that you are dealing with who has some interest in trees. They may not be members of the Northern Nut Growers Association or any tree association, but there are some people who appreciate trees and who do realize how long it takes to have a nice pecan tree or nice hickory nut tree growing.
If they call you contrary, that you won't give in to anything, let them call you contrary, let them call you nuts, but you can protect your trees and make sure that their future is secure.
What will happen to your trees after you are dead? Each individual's situation has to be considered separately. In many states you can provide by will to whom you want your nut planting to go, or you can, by making a trust, give the trees to trustees with certain powers and duties to care for and manage them for a period of time or perpetually, depending on the laws of your state. Usually it is limited to the life of some person or 21 years. In that length of time if your heirs or the person you desire these trees to go to have not educated themselves to the value of the tree, then the planting will be lost anyway.
In all of these cases and all the transactions that you make, if you value your trees—and you surely do when you will carry water for them and plant them and dig that large hole for those roots—it is worth while to look after them during the trees' lifetime, not your own lifetime. And if you will consult with your attorney, particularly mention those trees to him and just exactly what your ideas are, I think you will be assured that you will have a future for nut trees.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: Thank you, Mr. Sonnemann.
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