MUSKRAT AND BEAVER 111 



proper season, canning companies will purchase as much as can be 

 put up. 



It is said that the best salt marshes will furnish 50 rats a year per 

 acre. They may be fenced with l^-inch mesh wire, 5 feet wide, by 

 burying it a foot on dry land and deeper near water area. Not more 

 than 50 rat houses, or pairs, should be kept on an acre. It is necessary 

 to have an area of water which does not freeze to the bottom. This, 

 in many cases, could be secured by dredging and the mud thrown up 

 would be used by the rats for making homes. Wild rice, water lilies, 

 cat-tails, and various roots, are their natural food. Carrots, beets, 

 turnips, apples, pumpkins and other cheap vegetables and fruits may 

 be grown in nearby fields for summer food, or stored in pits for winter. 

 A small quantity of meat may also be fed. 



The muskrat probably has two litters the first, and three each 

 succeeding season, and the first litters bear young in the autunm. The 

 first are born about the middle of May and each litter numbers from 

 four to nine, although as many as twelve have been reported. 



BEAVER 

 {Castor Canadensis) 



The beaver formerly existed over nearly all the continent of North 

 America. It was also found in Europe and the greater part of Asia and 

 Northern Africa, but, in most of these, became extinct centuries ago. 

 There are only a few colonies in Europe at the present time and these 

 are preserved carefully by the government authorities. It is rapidly 

 becoming extinct in America. The homes of the greatest numbers, 

 at the present time, are in the country between the Great lakes and 

 the St. Lawrence river northward to Hudson bay, and in northern 

 British Columbia. 



No animal did more than the beaver to effect the colonization of 

 America. It lured men into the most remote wildernesses, furnished 

 him food and clothing, and was one of the- chief articles of commerce 

 with Europe. So universal an article of trade did it become that, in 

 northern Canada, beaver skin became the unit of currency. 



Brass estimates the world's production as follows: America, 80,000 

 skins; Asia, 1,000; Europe, a few. Besides the skins, the eastoreum, 

 or dry beaver castor, is traded in, bringing from $12 to $15 a pound 

 at the present time. 



Because of its interesting habits, every schoolboy is well 



the Beaver acquainted with most phases of the life of the beaver. Its 



flesh, skins and castors are valuable, the latter being used 



