THE INFLUENCE OF SOILS 57 



stone is a famous reservoir of artesian waters. The 

 glacial drift being deep over most of the southern 

 peninsula, springs commonly emerge at the base of 

 an ancient lake beach or from the drift along a 

 water-course or lake shore. One sometimes finds 

 them debouching from the bed rock, as in the case 

 of those which flow in great profusion out of the 

 limestone bordering the An Train near Lake Su- 

 perior. In country adjacent to the Maple River 

 in Gratiot County, there are few farms which do 

 not have their ready flow of water from wells sunk 

 in the covering clay. Along the eastern and west- 

 ern shore-lines of the southern peninsula, artesian 

 wells are abundant. At Alma in 1897 a calcula- 

 tion made by a student in Alma College was to 

 the effect that the seventy-two wells in the place 

 were producing 222 times as much water as the 

 people were using. Indeed, in seasons of drought 

 a more conservative method of utilizing these sub- 

 terranean waters might better serve the private and 

 public welfare. The geology and topography of 

 the State are favorable to their formation, but in 

 some localities, at least, they are demonstrably not 

 inexhaustible. In many sections they are an ex- 

 tremely convenient source of a rural water supply, 

 and are much i)rized even in urban communities. 

 Fortunately, unlike some other natural resources, 

 nature replenishes the depleted stocks of under- 

 ground waters, except in the case of some springs 

 whicli depend immediately on surface conditions, 

 and whicli have become extinct with the removal 



