24 
THE ARTESIAN WELLS OF COLORADO, 
miles west of Alamosa, irrigated forty acres of crops, con¬ 
sisting of oats, wheat, barley, rye and potatoes, from two 
three-inch wells in 1889, and stated that he intended to 
farm 100 acres during the present season by using a reser¬ 
voir of one and one-half acres. Several wells in the vicin¬ 
ity of Espinosa’s furnish water for irrigation. 
The supply of water from the river is not yet fully 
used, so there is not so much inducement to consider 
means of using water in the quantities furnished by most 
of the wells, but with the closer settlement of the valley 
there is no doubt they will be of considerable importance 
in the aggregate. 
The water furnished by the Bucher deep well at Ala¬ 
mosa exceeds one cubic foot per second, and the cost was 
$2,700, so that if water should reach the value it has in 
the older farming communities, such a well might be con¬ 
sidered a good investment. 
Whether the water is intended for irrigation or for 
domestic use, the supply is so important that it is a mat¬ 
ter of great concern to know whether the limit of the sup¬ 
ply is being reached, and whether it is affected by increas¬ 
ing the number of wells or not. There is a limit to the 
number of wells which may be sunk in any basin, which, 
if exceeded, will cause a decrease in all the existing wells, 
and may cause some to stop flowing. Because a well 
ceases to flow is not necessarily an indication that this 
limit has been reached, for the stoppage may come from 
other causes. The best practical test is the observation of 
the pressure, which depends principally on the height of 
the water level above the point where the test is made. If 
this level remains the same, the pressure is unchanged. 
But if this level falls, as in case so many perforations are 
made that the water flows out faster than it enters, 
the pressure falls until equality between the flow into the 
