GHAPEER.. VEL 
BEAVER MEApDowS 
Beaver meadows have played a very important part in 
the development of North America from the earliest days 
of its settlement. This is because they provided level 
land, good soil, usually covered with grass, sometimes also 
with bushes. The grass provided pasturage and hay, and 
the meadows, when cultivated, produced good crops, so that 
it was but natural that when available these were the first 
lands to be taken. 
“Fins, Feathers and Fur’ says ‘Most of the forest 
meadows where the pioneer settler is able to obtain hay for 
his stock have been caused by the killing off of small timber 
by beaver flooding many years ago, and in this way the 
beaver have contributed to the convenience of the farmer.”’ 
While presumably the above quotation is intended to 
apply especially to present conditions in Minnesota, doubt- 
less it is also applicable to the conditions found by the earli- 
est settlers in the Atlantic States, who must gladly have 
availed themselves of any open spaces which did not involve 
clearing the timber from the land. 
Building the dam can well be said to be the first step taken 
toward making a beaver meadow, for as soon as the pond is 
made silt begins to settle in it and fillit. This forces the 
owners, as explained in the chapters on the dam, to continue 
raising the dam to keep the water deep enough for their pur- 
poses. ‘The filling-in process continues indefinitely, but a 
pond never becomes a meadow as long as the beavers con- 
tinue to occupy it. Let them abandon it, however, and a 
meadow may be formed in a surprisingly short time. 
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