San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-09-28
Irrigation BY Altesian Wells.

A mile and half from Upton, in Tu-
lare County, California, Is an artesian
well. J. X. Scupham, Assistant Engin-
Ger of the Central Pacific Railroad Com
pany, who has recently returned to the
city from that section of the country,
makes a report concerning the supply
Of artesian water, which he regards rs .
very important matter In connection
with the development Of the land, and
believes that great reservoir underlies
the whole valley. He says he closely
examined the earth brought to the sur
face, ascertained the temperature Of the
water, and measured the capacity Of the
stream, and is convinced that copious
streams of water flow beneath the plain,
which is 200 miles in width. In boring,
mountain debris was pierced for depth
Of 28O feet, and good supply Of water
was not reached until stratum of sand
stone from four to six feet thick, lying
upon a bed Of quicksand. had been pass
cd through. The first flow was at the
rate of eight gallons a minute from the
seven-inch pipe one foot above the sur
face. Then five-inch pipe was sunk
thirty feet deeper, which pierced stra-
tum of blue clay, containing four sepa-
rate layers of sand, each of which con-
tributed supply Of water. The lower
one gave out considerable volume Of
water. It was decided to stop sinking
at this step to secure the water already
discovered. The we'll at last accounts
was delivering SO, 900 gallons day out
of five-inch pipe, four feet above the
surface Of the plain, and the supply Is
constantly increasing instead of dimin-
ishing. The water, according to the
statement of Mr.. Scupham, Is very pure
and shows its identity with glacier lakes:
It has less than six grains of solid
matter to the gallon. The solid sub
stance is chloride of sodium, which cor
responds almost exactly with the waters
of Lake Tahoe. The we'll has the Ca
pacity for irrigating 100 acres, and its
cost is from 800 to 1000. 1t is believ-
ed that water can be obtained by sink
ing wells to the depth of 800 or 400 feet
in any part of the Tulare Plains, and in
the opinion of Mr.. Scupham these wells
might be placed on every quarter Sec
ton of ground without the supply being
materially effected, or they might be
sunk even closer together without de-
creasing the flow. The temperature Of
the water is 70 deg, and the soil on the
surface needs nothing but water to rem
der it fertile. A few years since 2OO,-
900 eucalyptus trees were planted in this
locality by the Central Pacific Compa-
ny, and 70 per cent. of them are now in
a thriving state. In five years the trees
will be big enough for ties and telegraph
poles, and worth $3.50, 1000 to the COM
pany. The mountain debris referred
to is supposed to be the ruins of extinct
glaciers, which eroded the Sierras to
their present shape. Geologically
speaking, this debris was carried at a
very recent period from the mountain
slopes and submits and deposited in the
valley, and it is Scupham's idea that the
main portion of the Sierras was at one
time more than 10000 feet high, and
the loftiest peaks were at least 5000 feet
higher. From the aerial currents from
the west, heavily charged with moisture
from the ocean, immense volumes OF
rain were condensed and precipitated
on the mountain slopes toward the
ocean, which, flowing to the plains,
caused great lake, which is now ex-
tinct.-San Francisco Chronicle.