150 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



for any real destruction ? I doubt it. To begin 

 with, the principal trees cut for food purposes are 

 birch, maple and poplars of several species which 

 grow^ in low lands or in valleys, where their 

 development is seldom great. Only on the higher 

 ground, known as " hardwood ridges," do they 

 attain a size which gives them a commercial value, 

 so as a matter of fact few, if any, of the trees cut 

 down by the beaver would ever be utilized by man. 

 The greatest destruction is due to the killing of 

 conifers by flooding their roots, and in this way we 

 must acknowledge that a certain amount of damage 

 may be charged against the beaver. But even so 

 it is so sHght that it is scarcely worth considering, 

 except as an excuse for those who wish a pretext 

 for voting against the preservation of the little 

 animals, and whose actual reason is too often that 

 they want the few dollars which the pelts might 

 bring them. 



Having barely suggested three of the most 

 beneficial results of beaver work (I say barely 

 suggested, for the subject might well be carried 

 much further and many facts and figures given 

 which would prove the points still more convinc- 

 ingly) we might now turn to the less important 

 effects of the work. Everyone who has ever been 

 much in the wilds knows the value of water-ways. 

 In a canoe a man may travel with but little trouble, 

 and may even allow himself many comforts that 

 are debarred from the pack if weight has to be 



