WELLS OF WHITESIDE COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 615 



face being- either sandy or marshy, and comparatively few deep wells have 

 been sunk. Deep wells in the neighboring portions of Lee and Bureau 

 counties penetrate over 200 feet of drift, and it is probable that a similar 

 depth extends over three or four townships in the southeast part of this 

 county. 



INDIVIDUAL WELLS. 



At Fulton, in the Mississippi Valley, in the northwest corner of the 

 county, the city water supply is from an artesian well 1,246 feet in depth, 

 which terminates in the Potsdam sandstone. A flow of sulphurous water 

 was struck at about 475 feet. Another flow was obtained from the Potsdam 

 at 940 to 1,050 feet. The head is sufficient to carry the water 60 feet above 

 the surface, or about 655 feet above tide. The well has a diameter of 5 

 inches and an estimated capacity of 300 gallons per minute. The drift at 

 this well is reported by the engineer of waterworks to be 125 feet, but Prof. 

 J. A. Udden obtained a record which is thought to be more reliable in which 

 the drift is reported to be about 200 feet. Shallow wells in the valley in 

 the vicinity of Fulton are obtained at a depth of about 25 feet. Wells on 

 an island-like upland in the north part of the city, standing 100 feet more 

 or less above the river, are sunk to depths of 60 or 75 feet. They enter 

 rock at the base of the loess at about 25 to 30 feet, there being but little 

 glacial drift. 



Near Ustick rock is usually entered on ridges at about 50 feet and in 

 places at much less depth, but occasionally a greater depth is found. A 

 well on a ridge one-fourth mile south of Ustick did not reach rock at 200 

 feet. Farther east, in the elevated part of the county, wells enter rock at 

 50 to 75 feet and not infrequently reach depths of 100 to 150 feet or more. 



In the vicinity of Garden Plain, in T. 21, R. 3 E., wells enter a bed of 

 black muck containing wood at a depth of 30 or 40 feet. The material 

 above the muck is usually free from pebbles and is of the coarseness of sand 

 rather than of loess. There appears to be no till or other strictly glacial 

 material above the soil Beneath this muck a blue till is entered, which 

 extends usually to the rock at a level 65 to 100 feet or more below the sur- 

 face. East and south from Garden Plain the distance to the blue till varies 

 from 25 feet or less up to about 50 feet. A well in sec. 24 enters blue till 



