"Beavering down" trees
In Teddy Roosevelt's autobiography, he writes with great good humor about his various life adventures. The following quotation is from his tale of building a house from cottonwood logs on his North Dakota ranch:
The Elkhorn ranch house was built mainly by Sewall and Dow, who, like most men from the Maine woods, were mighty with the ax. I could chop fairly well for an amateur, but I could not do one-third the work they could. One day when we were cutting down the cottonwood trees, to begin our building operations, I heard some one ask Dow what the total cut had been, and Dow not realizing that I was within hearing, answered: "Well, Bill cut down fifty-three, I cut forty-nine, and the boss he beavered down seventeen." Those who have seen the stump of a tree which has been gnawed down by a beaver will understand the exact force of the comparison.
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The term, "beavered down," has now entered my vocabulary. I can relate. I've taken the ax and beavered down a few saplings myself, trying to get them out of the hedge where they've been let go too long. There's nothing like chopping down a tree to give you great respect for strength and stamina of the pioneers.
And as for the beavers -- well, I simply can't imagine chewing down a tree! I have a lot of respect for them too!
Related: Flickr photo set from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in southwestern North Dakota
"The power to recognize trees at a glance without examining their leaves or flowers or fruit as they are seen, for example, from the car-window during a railroad journey, can only be acquired by studying them as they grow under all possible conditions over wide areas of territory. Such an attainment may not have much practical value, but once acquired it gives to the possessor a good deal of pleasure which is denied to less fortunate travelers."
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