16 THE ARTESIAN WELLS OF COLORADO, 
•diately reduced to about one-fourth as much. The sink¬ 
ing of the McClelland well still further reduced it. The 
well is now pumped. 
This is only one of many instances. 
In the country the wells are not so close together, 
and the decrease is generally due to other causes. In case 
of partially filling up, cleaning recovers much of the 
flow. Thus in the well of the Barclay block, the follow¬ 
ing measurements were made by Charles M. Dwelle, who 
had charge of it during the process of cleaning, in 1884 : 
May 14, 10 % gallons per minute (before cleaning). 
May 15, 4 a. m., 17 gallons per minute (after cleaning was begun). 
“ “ 6 a. m., 22 “ “ 
“ “ 9 a. m., 32 “ 
The gathering area of this basin is limited, and with 
4he large number of wells it is not surprising that varia¬ 
tion is noticed with the seasons. On the Barclay well, as 
measured by Mr. Dwelle, the flow from the deeper stratum 
w r as as follows : 
Aug. 
4, 
1884, 
36 
gallons per minute. 
Jan. 
24, 
1885, 
51 
it 
it 
it 
Mar. 
9, 
u 
40 
a 
ti 
is 
Nov. 
&, 
it 
35J 
it 
n 
ll 
Jan. 
27, 
1886, 
12 
it 
ti 
ll 
Feb. 
6, 
■u 
14 
a 
ti 
ll 
Feb. 
9, 
■It 
27 
a 
a 
ll 
April 
8, 
u 
12 
a 
it 
ll 
Mav 
«/ 
14, 
■u 
10* 
■ii 
it 
ll 
A part of this variation is due to other wells in the 
vicinity, but aside from this a fluctuation is noticeable. 
The variation with the seasons has been plain enough to 
be remarked in other wells as well. 
The flow of the wells frequently increases for a time 
after being sunk, which is due to the fact that a small 
reservoir or cavity is nearly always formed. These are 
usually small, but sometimes the amount of sand brought 
up is as much as two or three cubic y r ards. 
