PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 507 



Nearer the village, still other wells have been drilled, but as a 

 rule without equal success. Of the six wells that Dr Fenner 

 has drilled on his home property, only one is reported to be 

 as good as those already enumerated. When these wells fail 

 it is generally through neglect in leaving the salt water on the gas 

 veins. 



The possibilities of a gas supply are to be found on many farms 

 of the township, but it costs something to equip a house for the 

 use of this fuel, and there is also an inevitable risk of failure 

 in drilling a well. Considerations founded on such facts have 

 held back farmers, as a rule, from making trial of their home sup- 

 plies. The gas stock, however, remains safely stored in the rocks 

 and as time goes by all of it will certainly be brought into requi- 

 sition. 



Comparatively little exploration in the way of drilling has been 

 carried on in the townships of Dunkirk, Sherman and Hanover, 

 but there is no reason to doubt that there are probabilities of 

 natural gas supplies in all of them. In the western townships of 

 the lake shore belt, considerable development has already gone 

 forward. Three townships, Portland, Westfield and Ripley, will 

 be taken up in the order named. 



b Portland. The principal development in this township is on 

 the eastern side and in the neighborhood of the village of Brocton. 

 More than 40 wells have been drilled in the immediate vicinity of 

 this village of which at least four fifths are successful as sources 

 of light and heat. They also show good staying properties, a 

 number of them having maintained their supplies for 10 or 12 

 years, without apparent reduction. The gas supply in the main 

 is derived from depths in the shales between 25 and 250 feet. In 

 a very few instances gas has been found lower than 250 feet, but 

 no case is recorded in which it has been found 100 feet lower. 

 Several wells have been drilled to 600 and 800 feet but no addi- 

 tions worth noting have been obtained in the lower portion of the 

 sections. The gas is generally reported as derived from the black 

 shale beds. The drillings or cuttings of this shale are reddish 

 brown. This fact has sometimes led to naming the stratum in 

 which the gas is found a " chocolate slate." 



Water is always met in the wells. Near the surface of the 

 shales the most reliable accumulations of fresh water for human 



