■JO EDITORIAL 



foot of the Sierra it gradually diminishes till it becomes, in many 

 places, a fine gravel and at last a fine silt. This last composes the 

 adobe land around Los Angeles and also the many sheets of the same 

 material which lie in the gravel, and are the holding-ground of the 

 water supply. This has been so largely exploited during the two late 

 dry seasons that the work has resulted in restoring confidence in 

 the water resources of the valley, of which some had become rather 

 doubtful. 



The highly aluminous nature of many of these beds indicates a very 

 extensive decay or kaolinization of the gneisses of the Sierra and together 

 with the diluvial arrangement of the Pleistocene wash in the valley 

 rather indicates a long continuance of the present climatic conditions 

 than a past of greater and steadier rainfall. 



The multiplication of wells has not yet shown any effect in lower- 

 ing the water level unless perhaps in a few cases and this result is the 

 more surprising and gratifying because it comes after two dry seasons 

 in which only eleven inches of rain have fallen. Already this year, a 

 greater total has been received than the above though the wet period 

 has scarcely begun. 



When to this is added the storage of the rainwater in tanks and 

 ponds and the reforesting of the Sierras, wherever possible, it will be 

 seen that the maintenance of the water supply in the future is encour- 

 aging. 



Bates' Hole. By Wilbur C. Knight, Laramie, Wyo. 



Bates' Hole, a great natural depression, is located along the east 

 and west boundary line between Carbon and Natrona counties, Wyom- 

 ing ; extending southward from six to ten miles into Carbon county 

 and from twenty to twenty-five miles into Natrona county. The bot- 

 bom of this depression is 800 feet below the rim near the head and 

 over 1700 feet below it near the Piatt River. The drainage is practically 

 confined to Camp Creek which rises at the southern end of the Hole ; 

 but which affords water for only a portion of the year, and Bates Creek 

 which rises in the Laramie Mountains and furnishes quite a stream. The 

 country about this area is comparatively level ; but to the eastward only 

 a few miles rise the Laramie Mountains, and to the westward the 

 Indian Grove and other ranges, which are made up of Mesozoic, 

 Paleozoic, and Archean rocks. In length Bates' Hole varies from 

 twenty-five to thirty-five miles and in width from six to twelve miles ; 



