The Ground Water. 
17 
affected by such mixing of waters lias been a serious question 
throughout this work. The doubts entertained led me to have 
wells of different depths dug, and to endeavor to determine the ex¬ 
tent to which* samples of water obtained from slightly different 
depths taken from the same place and on the same date would 
differ. The results obtained prove beyond a doubt that the ordi¬ 
nary laws of solubility and diffusion are very radically modified! 
and that the mixing of waters as suggested was improbable. 
§ 52. I stated in Bulletin 46, page 5, that the water in the 
gravel stratum was different from the water in the soil proper. 
This appears, from the preceding statements, to be almost a matter 
of course; but there is a broader sense in which it might be the 
case, as I was at one time tempted to believe, i. e., that the water 
in the gravel might be practically cut off from the water in the soil 
by the clayey stratum overlying the gravel, and that the water in 
the latter came from higher ground and constituted a sheet flowing 
eastward through it. The possibility that such might have been the 
case is evident, but I am satisfied that the clayey stratum did not 
suffice to'separate the waters in the soil from that in the gravel, and 
I am doubtful whether the water from the higher land actually 
finds its way into the gravel as a distinct course for its flow. That 
it does not is indicated by our experience in June and July, 1899, 
when, because of an unusually large supply of water, the land to 
the west of us was excessively irrigated and the water table in our 
plot was raised to within eighteen inches of the surface. This 
water either flowed above the clayey stratum or rose through it. 
§ 53: Transportation of the salts laterally through the soil 
did not, even in this case, seem to take place, for the individuality 
of the different wells was quite unaffected. Still the results of three 
seasons’ cultivation, irrigation included, shows the removal of large 
quantities of soluble salts, if the amount of these held in solution by 
the soil waters be a reliable index. Taking the total solids in the 
waters of the different wells, ten days after irrigation, August 20, 
1897, and August 31, 1899, we have wells A, B, C, and D show¬ 
ing the following total solids respectively in 1897: 30.8571, 35.2857, 
3.3429 and 2.6429 parts per thousand; in 1899, 1.7857, 2.7286, 
2.8857 and 3.4000 parts per thousand. In the case of Well D, in 
1899, we have an increase, but after making allowance for all 
minor variations and a marked capriciousness in the amount of 
salts dissolved, there is still evidence of the removal of large 
amounts of the soluble salts from the soil. 
§ 54. The crops, as shown in Bulletins 46 and 58, did not 
remove these salts, and if they did not remain more generally 
distributed through the mass of the soil, whereby they would be 
rendered more difficultly soluble in water, they must have been 
