20 
THE ARTESIAN WELLS OE COLORADO, 
found in this extension as well, though I have yet to learn 
of any borings in this portion. 
At Monte Vista the flow which is used is from 107 to 
111 feet; at La Jara the first flow is found at about sixty 
feet, the second at ninety, and the third at 130, the 
amount found at the same depth being, to some extent, 
different for different wells, but the temperature being the 
same. 
The shallower wells are, as is to be expected, colder 
than the deep ones. The temperature of nearly a hun¬ 
dred in different parts of the valley was taken. They 
varied from 46.2°, from eighty-five feet, a few miles north 
of La Jara, to 74.7°, from 932 feet, at Alamosa. The shal¬ 
lowest well observed, forty-five feet, had a temperature of 
51.8°, but this was in the southeastern part of the basin, 
near the bend of the Conejos, near which are the Les 
Ojos Calientes, or warm springs, of Judge Mclntire, with 
temperatures from 74° downwards. 
The measurements, as a whole, indicate an in¬ 
crease of one degree Fahrenheit for thirty-four feet in¬ 
crease in depth, which is somewhat more than the aver¬ 
age as found by measurements over a large portion of the 
earth’s surface. 
The wells with the lower temperatures would seem to 
be too cold for the best results in irrigation, but where the 
water is stored in reservoirs and exposed to the sun for a 
time its temperature would be increased. The warm 
water from the deep wells could be very beneficially ap¬ 
plied, and might render possible, to a limited extent, the 
growth of crops which could not ordinarily be raised in 
the valley, or could assist in forcing early crops. 
The pressure at none of the wells is great. At Monte 
Vista and vicinity it was from twelve to fourteen feet 
when first sunk for depths of from 100 to 135 feet; at La 
Jara, thirty feet, according to the measurements of Mr. 
