376 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MY ARTESIAN WELL. 



\VM. DAXFORTII, RED WING. 



The immediate incentive to the construction of our artesian well 

 was the dry summer of 1894, which was productive of poor vege- 

 tables and a very few discouraged flowers, and left dying trees and 

 fruit plants ill prepared either for winter existence or next year's 

 fruiting. 



The well is situated two miles from Red Wing on a plateau of the 

 same height as the city, fift}'^ feet above the Mississippi. It was 

 drilled in March of the present year (1S9.5). There was a laj'er of earth 

 to a depth of thirteen feet, sand rock to ninety feet, shale to 225 feet 

 and then sand again the balance of the distance, the last twenty feet 

 being colored with iron. It was made with a six inch drill. Arte- 

 sian water was reached at 225 feet below the surface. 



Drilling was continued to 496 feet. At this point the temperature 

 was 51° and had been rising one degree for every fifty feet in depth. 

 The flow was sixteen feet above the surface and had increased one 

 foot for ever3^ seven in depth. The discharge is eighty-five gallons 

 a minute. The total expense has been about five hundred dollars. 



The well was completed so late that very little could be done for 

 the earlj' fruit. B}^ July it was in running order. A two-inch iron 

 pipe was run north of the well to the summit of a ridge, thence 

 along the ridge to and through the strawberrj' field. This ridge is 

 about seven feet above the well. The rows lie north and south, 

 dropping from the ridge to the north one foot in one hundred and 

 four feet in one hundred to the south. 



Along the pipe about every one hundred feet are Ts, where the 

 hose can be connected. In the strawberry field we use a fifty feet 

 length of two-inch hose to lead the water to troughs, by which it is 

 distributed to the plants, irrigating about eighteen rows at once. 

 We could not appl}' directly from the hose on account of the soil 

 washing. The troughs are V-shaped and made from common fenc- 

 ing, with a small hole for each row. We generallj^ changed the 

 troughs once in twentj^-four hours. 



We went over our strawberry field in August and in October. In 

 a few places where we did not get water on the plants, they do not 

 look as thrifty as the balance of the field. The vegetables were im- 

 proved by the use of the water, and the flowers were especially fine. 



Mr. C. L. Smith: How long has your well been running? 



Mr. Danforth: This year we got the water running about 

 two weeks before the strawberries came into bearing, and we 

 could not see much difference between those rows which were 

 watered from the balance of the bed, but this year our plants 

 were in very poor condition in the spring. We estimated we 

 had only about thirty per cent, of the plants we generally 

 had. 



Pres. Underwood: What was the cost of the well? 



