AND THEIR RELATION TO IRRIGATION. 
17 
The wells of jthe Denver basin have been put down 
almost exclusively for domestic water. There has been 
comparatively little thought given to their use for irriga¬ 
tion, nevertheless many of the wells are irrigating areas 
of from one to ten acres. Nearly all those in the country 
are used to irrigate gardens. Some are used for the rais¬ 
ing of fish. The cost of the well, taken with the small 
amount of water obtained as a rule, prevents many being 
sunk for irrigation. 
, ’ > 
THE SAN LUIS BASIN. 
The San Luis basin is the most remarkable of any 
yet developed in the State. Though here the water was 
found by accident by S. P. Home as recently as the Fall 
of 1887, while sinking a sand point for an ordinary drive 
well, the ease and cheapness of sinking have been such 
that there are now probably as many as 2,000. They are 
so numerous that the residents give no more than a pass¬ 
ing glance to one, aud as they are frequently sunk in less 
than half a day with the simplest of outfits, it is not 
remarkable that it is impossible to secure any kind of 
complete list even for a limited locality. Wells are often 
sunk for $25, and they range from this price upward, 
according to circumstances. In consequence, it is cheaper 
to bore artesian wells than it is to attempt to dig wells of 
the ordinary kind, without the added inducement of 
the purer water. Hence within the limits of the flowing 
area nearly every occupied quarter section has a well, 
and sometimes more. The town of Monte Vista has 88; 
La Jara at least 17 ; Alamosa over 25 ; D. E. Newcomb, 
17 ; S. E. Newcomb, 8, and wells in corresponding num¬ 
bers arc found over all the valley. 
To the eye the valley is level as a floor, though it 
has a slight slope, so uniform that the prevailing practice 
in ditch construction is to follow the lines of the Govern- 
