THE BEAVER IN ITS RELATION TO FORESTRY. 2o 



tlioiisaiuls of l:)ranches, ponds, and lakes, wliicli, like a g:reat system 

 of veins and arteries, ini]>aited vigor and stal)ility to the whole. 

 ICvery where the forest hnmus was moist; every brook and sti'eandet 

 was noisy, rushing beneath the shading arms of giant trees, 

 bal)bling over peblily bottoms, or leaj»ing down falls and over 

 l)arriers of various kinds that nature or aeeident liad interpcised to 

 retard its journey to the sea. The prolonged and copious supj)ly 

 of u'att-r from the snow, melting slowly on the densely sliaded 

 forest-tioor, sank into its deep sfiongy mould, trickled through the 

 earth enriching the soil with its fertilizing burden, and continued 

 dui'ing the greater pait of summer to issue forth alor.g the slojtes 

 and in the valleys through countless sjtrings and rivulets. Like 

 conditions retained the sunmier rainfall which made good from 

 time to time the diminution of moisture cau^ed by a slow eva])ora- 

 tion. Lakes and |)onds iiunuuerat)le dt)tted the forest-Hoor and 

 dispensed their coolness and humidity on all sides. 



Plere were ideal, l)ecaus(' natural, conditions of forest growth 

 and permanence, but. as w;is injplied al)ove, the lundier l)usin( ss. 

 settlement, and the waste and al)uses atter.ding both, have brought 

 a great (-hange over the face of the foiest. From the 

 water-ways 1 ave l)een re;noved all obsti'uctions *^^o the rapid drain- 

 age of the fore.'^t and depletion (;f the water su])ply. Streams, 

 brooks, and rivers have had their channels cleared of every impedi- 

 ment to the easy, rapid, and uinnte'Tui>ted flow of the water. 

 The natural density of the forest, whicti in primitive times stood 

 guard against a too rapid melting of the snows on the one hand 

 and eva})oratu>n of moisture on the othei', has disajipeared before 

 the thoughtless axe and destructive^ tire. Settlements have ex- 

 tended into the wilderne.-s in all directions — veritable tongues of 

 fire — which are fringed everywhere with rui'^ and desolation. 

 Railroads have proved to be the forest's greatest enemy, wdiose 

 paths through the ijrovince aie everywhere marked l)y wide 

 tracts, seared and ))lackened, and rendered unproductive for half a 

 century or more. Watersheds have l)een strip])ed of their tree- 

 growth and thus robbed of the power to contribute to the water 



