mitted and encouraged by proper legislation, and I feel quite 

 sure that the semi-domestication of beaver, both for their fur 

 and their flesh is entirely practical. There is now many times 

 the amount of beaver food in the North woods than there 

 was at the time when the fur trade was at its height. The 

 beavers live principally on the bark and twig of the com- 

 mon poplar, which covers many thousand square miles in 

 Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and is prac- 

 tically of no commercial value. About twelve years ago three 

 beavers, a male and two females were set free in the Itasca 

 state forest. These have increased so rapidly that beaver 

 colonies are now found in every suitable place in the park, 

 and several colonies have established themselves outside of 

 the park. The beaver may be reintroduced into the region 

 which they once inhabited, with less trouble and less expense 

 than any other valuable wild animal. The forest service has 

 made arrangements to bring a number of elk to the state 

 forest at Itasca. I believe the game and fish department is 

 negotiating also to place a number of elk in the national for- 

 est north of Lake Superior, and within a few years any citi- 

 zen of Minnesota who wants to make the experiment of rais- 

 ing elk for the market ought to be able to obtain his stock at 

 a comparatively small cost and inconvenience. 



That a region which is still so wild offers superior attrac- 

 tion not only to the hunter, but to the general nature lover, 

 ;oes almost without saying, but I should like to point out a 

 few of the advantages which those may enjoy who do not go 

 into the North woods to hunt with a gun. 



The ideal way to travel through the North country in the 

 summer time is by canoe. The canoeist should not set out 

 to make a certain number of miles within a certain number 

 of days, but he should start out with the intention of enjoy- 

 ing anything of interest on the way, rather than to try to 

 arrive somewhere at some particular time. If one has ac- 

 quired a passion for increasing the business of the camera 

 companies, it is not so exceedingly difficult on a canoe trip 

 to obtain reasonably good pictures of mocse and deer as they 

 are feeding along the lake shores and streams, and as the 

 canoeist slips up on them quietly. Some of the best pict- 



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