6 RECORD OF BEEP-WELL DRILLING FOR 1905. 
Milch has been accomplished toward achieving the objects 
indicated. The sinking of wells has been recommended in numerous 
instances, drillers have been furnished with advice, well samples 
have been described and explained, records have been interpreted, 
and geologists have been supplied with a large number of records. 
It is hoped that even more will be accomplished during the next 
year, and it is with the view of emphasizing to drillers and others 
the importance to them of the work that more detailed statements 
of the benefits are given in the following paragraphs. 
ENCOURAGEMENT OF DRILLING. 
It is the earnest wish of the Survey to encourage drilling for pure- 
water supplies. Each year a large number of requests for advice 
as to the desirability of drilling wells in different localities are 
received, and recommendations based on the prevailing conditions 
in the region in question are given. It is evident that every suc- 
cessful well tends to lead to the drilling of others for similar supplies, 
and the more definite the information that can be given as to depth, 
materials penetrated, quantity and quality of supply, and cost of 
the well, the better able is the person to judge of the advisability 
of sinking the well. Failures to obtain supplies do not always, in 
the long run, tend to discourage drilling, as the cause is often dis- 
coverable when accurate records are available and it is possible to 
suggest remedies so that following wells are more successful. Data 
as to the small water seams overlying the supposed main water- 
bearing bed are of great importance in suggesting sources of supply 
when for one reason or another the expected flow from the lower 
bed does not materialize. In general the shallower the wells, 
beyond a certain limit, the greater will be the demand for drillers, 
for it is evident that where water can be obtained within a relatively 
short distance of the surface and at a moderate cost much more 
drilling will be done in the aggregate than if the wells had to be 
sunk many hundreds or thousands of feet, in which case only towns 
or large corporations could afford to drill. 
In order that the greatest number of wells may be drilled and 
the greatest success attained, it is desirable that the Survey be 
furnished, as a basis for its recommendations to those contemplating 
drilling, with as full data as possible regarding each well, whether 
deep or shallow (if over 100 feet) and whether successful or not. 
Another point that should be more widely appreciated among 
drillers is that the man who goes about his work intelligently is 
most likely to secure the large contracts. The work of large cor- 
porations is generally conducted along severely practical lines, and 
when drilling is to be done practical men are selected. It is manifest 
that to the driller who gives careful attention to Ins work and who 
