THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



4,, 



the water table is a fact sustained by observation. Some 

 of the county roads are systematically sprinkled with 

 water which is obtained from shallow tubular wells 

 which have been sunk at convenient points along the 

 road. Their supply is the seepage which percolates 

 through the soil from ditches and from the run-off of 

 irrigation water. The tank wagons used for sprinkling 

 are fitted at the rear end with a small gasoline engine 

 and pump, by means of which the water is pumped 

 from the wells into the tank. It is no uncommon sight 

 to the passer by to see a four horse tank wagon stand- 

 ing by one of these wells with engine and pump work- 

 ing at full speed until the tank is filled. This is an- 

 other instance of the pumping process adapted to the 

 demands of the situation. 



The reduction of the level of the soil water through- 

 out the older fruit growing area is the problem which 

 is now occupying the attention of many vine growers 

 in the Fresno district. The Office of Experiment Sta- 

 tions of the Department of Agriculture has had sur- 

 veys made during the past summer under the direction 

 of Prof. 0. V. R. Stout with the view of recommend- 

 ing some feasible drainage plan. This work is nearing 

 completion and involves the drainage of twenty-five 

 square miles of some of the finest fruit country of 

 the State, and valuable data for the improvement of a 

 much larger area. This is a country first desert, then 

 made productive by irrigation, but now suffering from 

 seepage from canals and over-irrigation. That such 

 reclamation can be effected is reasonably well demon- 

 strated. As in every new project there are many de- 

 tails of economic importance which must be worked 

 out to the satisfaction of land owners before a practical 

 demonstration on a large scale can be made. The 

 intimate relation existing between irrigation and drain- 

 age is becoming apparent to every careful cultivator 

 of irrigated land. If the seepage of water from canals 

 cannot be prevented, or the use of water so controlled 

 that there will be no waste, then provision for drainage 

 must sooner or later be made in places where the nat- 

 ural condition of the lower soil does not afford ample 

 facilities for carrying away surplus water. 



SINS OF GENIUS. 



A wise man who had studied long 



Desired to a-chieve renown; 

 He sought attention from the throng, 



But did not play the crank or clown. 

 He trusted to his work alone, 

 And went unnoticed and unknown. 



At last he donned a gaudy coat 



And wore a hat with spreading brim ; 



He tore the collar from his throat 

 And people stopped to notice him. 



He let his hair grow long and made 



Men wonder at the part he played. 



Thus showing eccentricities 



That often made him blush for shame, 

 His work took on the strength to please, 



The world was busy with his name. 

 That which before had won no praise 

 Served now to gladden and amaze. 



Chicago Record-Herald. 



BREATHING WELLS OF NEBRASKA. 



In a recent paper published by the United States 

 Geological Survey, on wells and windmills in Nebraska, 

 mention is made of the interesting phenomena of the 

 breathing or blowing wells which are found distributed 

 throughout a large portion of the State of Nebraska. 

 These wells are of the driven type mostly in use upon the 

 plains, but are distinguished from those of ordinary 

 character by a remarkable and unexplained egress and 

 ingress of currents of air which produce distinctly 

 audible sounds and rive the names variously applied to 

 them of breathing, sighing, blowing, or roaring wells, 

 according to their characters in different places. The 

 air currents are readily tested with flames of candles, 

 or by dropping chaff or feathers into the well tubes. 

 There are periods when these wells blow out for several 

 days, and equal periods when their air currents are re- 

 versed. It has been observed that the blowing occurs with 

 changes of the barometer. Some wells are found to be 

 most audible when the wind is from the northwest, 

 with a rise in water level; but with a change of wind, 

 air is drawn in and the water is observed to sink. Dur- 

 ing the progress of a low-barometer area over one of 

 these regions, wind is violently expelled from the wells, 

 with a noise distinctly audible for several rods. Pro- 

 fessors Loveland and Swezey, of the University of Ne- 

 braska, have made observations on a well of this nature 

 in Perkins County, and found that its breathing periods 

 were exactly coincident with the barometric changes. 



The citizens of the region have attempted many 

 explanations of the wells. Some have reasoned that the 

 blowing is probably due to the liberation of gas produced 

 from petroleum, and that as petroleum is a natural dis- 

 tillation from great coal fields, there must be an abun- 

 dant supply of the latter mineral beneath the surface. 

 Fortunes have been staked upon this deduction and 

 much time consumed in a fruitless search for coal. 

 Others have noticed the change of current which some 

 wells show every twelve hours, morning and evening, 

 and have thought that this regular oscillation was due to 

 a tidal action of the sheet of water, erroneously con- 

 sidering the latter as a great subterranean lake. The 

 phenomena are most frequently attributed by scientific 

 observers to atmospheric pressure, which, though prob- 

 ably exerting great influence, is not necessarily the whole 

 cause. 



The material through which the wells are driven 

 may throw some light on their peculiarities. In south- 

 eastern Nebraska a layer of dense limestone about 4 

 inches thick lies beneath 50 to 100 feet of subsoil. Below 

 the limestones is found water-bearing gravel. When the 

 limestome covering the water-bearing beds is penetrated 

 water under slight pressure rises about 1 foot. The 

 water-bearing layer is very porous and must always con- 

 tain more or less air. As the air above and the air in- 

 closed in the gravels below are alike subject to the 

 fluctuations of the barometer, it follows that if the sur- 

 face air is rendered less dense the air below will pass 

 out through the well openings until equilibrium between 

 the rarer air and denser air is established, and the oppo- 

 site effect will follow during a period of high pressure. 

 Still, this explanation, plausible as it is, hardly ac- 

 counts for the force with which the air is expelled from 

 some of the wells, and a more comprehensive study of 

 the problem is needed to satisfactorily explain all the 

 phenomena-. 



