I08 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT, 



The drilling of practically all deep wells is let by contract to 

 the lowest responsible bidder, and it is obvious that if the party 

 letting the contract has no idea of the underground conditions he 

 is not in a position either to draw proper specifications or to judge 

 of the reasonableness of the bid when made. In many cases the 

 contract for wells fails to specify requirements that should be made 

 for that particular locality, and on tlie other hand includes condi- 

 tions that involve additional expense and yet for that particular 

 well are useless. It is very much to the advantage of the owner of 

 the prospective well to have full information as to the conditions 

 of the underlying strata through which the well is tO' be drilled, thp 

 probable depth that it will be necessary to go and the depth to 

 which the casing should be carried, as well as some idea of the 

 ease with which the well can be drilled or the difificulties that must 

 be expected, and to place this data as fully as possible before the 

 prospective bidder, without, however, assuming responsibility as to 

 the nature of the strata which are always variable within limits. If 

 the driller must make his bid totally in the dark as to what to ex- 

 pect in the drill hole, naturally he must allow liberally for unex- 

 pected difificulties and for unknown conditions. On the other hand 

 if the data available to Inm is approximately complete he can afford 

 to submit a close bid. The more completely the element of uncer- 

 tainty is eliminated the smaller the margin of unexpected expenses 

 necessary to allow for in making a bid. 



Not only do well records have an immediate practical utility 

 for the community in which the well is located, but they have in 

 addition a broader application. Owing to the prevailingly level 

 surface of Florida there is not as good an opportunity to examine 

 the substructure from surface exposures as in some other states, 

 and a correspondingly greater reliance must be made on records 

 from drill holes, A knowledge of the substructure of the country 

 has in turn both educational and economic value. It is well 

 known that oil and gas within the earth are more or less dehnitel}' 

 associated with the structure of the rock, being found on or near 

 the tops of the anticlines or folds or in dome structures. Reliable 

 advice as to where best to drill prospect holes for oil and gas must 

 necessarily be based on a knowledge of the structure of the under- 

 lying formations and to this knowledge the well records if prop- 

 erly kept will largely contribute. Moreover, a knowledge of the 



