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 slight 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 
