Fixation ot Nitrogen in Colorado Soils 
23 
quired particularly about the use of this water and its effects. 
He asserted that his animals after drinking it for a few days 
learned to prefer it to other water. The animals themselves 
were sleek, fat, and showed, every sign of well-being. In an- 
other case a family, man, wife and eight children all rugged, 
apparently healthy, and happy, was using a well-water that 
carried 2,244.0 p.p.ni. of total solids and 28.0 p.p.m. of nitrogen 
as nitrates. The sanitary chemist will think that this nitrogen 
as nitrates does not indicate ordinary pollution. Our thesis is 
tliat these nitrates are formed in the surface soil and do not 
necessarily indicate pollution. Still this last well referred to 
would shake his confidence in his inference. I believe the in- 
ference to be correct, but in this case it is certainly open to 
serious doubt. 
We have a great many inquiries concerning the fitness of 
water for the use of stock and frequently for domestic uses. 
Of late years I have practically had no opinion to give, for the 
tolerance of both man and beast for the salts held in solution 
and their power to adapt themselves to these waters is so great 
that assertions based on chemical considerations relative to 
their fitness or unfitness for either use are of relatively little 
^mlue. Perhaps they ought to be unfit for use but people who 
use them suffer no inconvenience and animals become accus- 
tomed to waters surprisingly rich in salts, some of which we 
would usually consider dangerous. 
GENERAL SURVEY OF WELL-WATERS 
To return to our presentation of the waters of this section. 
The order in which we shall present these has the object of 
showing how remarkably rich in nitrates some of these waters 
are and then to show that these are confined to areas where the 
surface soil is also rich. We shall endeavor in another place to 
answer the question whether the nitrates in the surface soil 
\*ame from the water or whether those in the water came from 
Ihe soil. This is the crux of the question. 
WELLS ON NORTH AND SOUTH ROAD EAST OF WELLINGTON 
Our next table gives all accessible wells along a line two 
miles east of Wellington. We begin at the north end and go 
south for a little over six miles. This is through the worst i)or- 
tion of the district. It may help the reader a little in visual- 
izing the condition to state that the eastern flank of the vallev 
rises sharply to a height of from 80 to 100 feet only a she it 
distance, from % to perhaps 3 miles, to the east of this road, 
which is itself almost the eastern limit of the irrigated section. 
