\J. W. BOULTBEE. CLIX. 
Supplies of underground waters available ; the importance 
of the results attained have been fully recognised, the 
information regarding the wells has been carefully collated 
by the department dealing with it, and a wonderful fund 
of knowledge has thereby been made available. Artesian 
wells are reckoned in America by thousands, extending 
from Montana and North Dakota to the southern portion 
of Texas. In North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, 
Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, California, Nevada, New Mexico, 
and Texas, their numbers are incredible. From a recent 
map I see there are about 3,700 artesian wells alone in 
the San Luis Valley; ina small area surrounding Denver 
about 325 are charted; and from the Rio Grande to the 
Brazos River the country is dotted with them. The 
number and volume of the artesian wells in America, 
west of the 97th meridian zone (17,000) enormously 
exceed what we have in Australia, and the uses they 
are put to far excels any efforts so far made here. : There 
are many valleys or basins, which, while limited in area, 
greatly exceed in yield that at present obtained from the 
whole of the bores in New South Wales. The most notice- 
able, perhaps, is the San Luis Valley or Park; it embraces. 
portion of the Rio Grande, Saguache, Costilla and Conejos 
counties; it is hemmed in by the Sangre de Christos 
Mountains and the main range of the Rockies. It has, 
roughly, an area of 8,000 square miles; within it are more 
than 3,700 artesian wells. The Alamosa town well and 
the Moffat well being the largest. Some 30 miles of irri- 
gating ditches are supplied from the former well. 
Other artesian basins, of more or less magnitude, are 
scattered through the breadth and length of the land, and 
they enter in no inconsiderable way into its general develop- 
ment, The Denver basin is one that may be mentioned. 
Artesian water was first exploited there in 1883, and it 
