BEAVERS—THEIR WAYS. 3f 
Along the banks of the stream and around the ‘‘ pond 
a fence of wire netting, from two to three feet high, is 
built, inclosing all the trees that can possibly be taken 
in.’’ This is for the purpose of keeping the beaver on 
the farm of their owners. This plan is generally con- 
sidered successful, butit is not invariably so. Now and 
then a farmer loses a portion of his colony that escapes 
up or down the stream by burrowing under the fence, 
but he has the chance of getting some of his neighbor’s 
animals, in the same way, and he makes no complaint. 
As a rule the beavers stay contentedly in the enclosure 
where they are placed. 
To start with a colony of twelve females and four males 
is sufficiently large. The animals are purchased in the 
Sascatchewan valley, Manitoba, where they are trapped. 
A colony of sixteen will cost $160. They are placed 
in the ponds in the spring when the water is high, and 
all the farmer has to dois to keep his dam and fences 
up, and prevent hunters from killing the animals. 
The farmer experiences but little trouble with poach- 
ers, however, as it is generally understood that a man 
caught in the act of beaver hunting on land that does 
not belong to him is more liable to get a bullet in his 
skin than he is to get atrial by jury. 
It takes the animal but a short time to become accus- 
tomed to their new surroundings. Ina few days they 
begin building their huts of mud andsticks. They work 
vigorously on the trees, and some of the smallest ones 
are gnawed off. The first year the farmer receives no 
income, The animals propagate rapidly, and by fall 
in the second year, the colony has largely increased in 
numbers. 
