little while thereafter. A beaver dam and pond 

 together form a factor of importance in the keep- 

 ing of streams ever flowing. The pond is a reser- 

 voir which catches and retains some of the water 

 coming into it during rainy days and which 

 delays the water-flow through it. A beaver pond 

 is a leaky reservoir, a kind of spring as it were, 

 and if stored full during rainy days the leakage 

 from it will help maintain stream-flow below dur- 

 ing the dry weather. Beaver works thus tend to 

 distribute to streams a moderate quantity of water 

 each day. In other words they spread out or dis- 

 tribute the water of the few rainy days through all 

 the days of the year. 



A river which flows steadily throughout the 

 year is of inestimable value to mankind. If floods 

 sweep a river, they do damage. If low water comes, 

 the wheels of steamers and of factories cease 

 to move, and a dry river-channel means both 

 damage and death. Numerous beaver colonies 

 along the sources of countless streams that rise 

 in the hills and the mountains would be helpful 

 in equalizing the flow of these streams. I hope 

 and believe that before many years every rushing 



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