The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1905-06-06
the depleted soil is a necessity
Some Facts About Water Suppl

the depleted soil is necessity
Some Facts About Water Supply.
"Paradoxically speaking, the Pc
cos Valley is not a valley; it is a
depression between the high plains
that bound it on the east and the
mountains that grid it on the west.
In the northern portion of it, some
miles above Roswell. four great
springs gush out of the earth and
| take each a separate course through
the Valley" Two of these are known
respectively. as the North Spring Ri
yer and the South Spring River. From
the west where 1t has its source am
ong the mountains. flows the Hondo,
stream capable of irrigating thous-
ands of acres; besides which there
is the Pecos River itself and it's tri
butaries. While over and above these
| is the great water sheet" lying be
low the surface of the earth, rather
to be accounted a water blessing
| The marvel of the Pecos Valley is it's
| flowing wells that derive their supply
and force from this abundance
down below.
Something About Artesian Wells.
By artesian wells we mean water
| that springs above the surface of the
ground, through natural and hydro
static pressure that has been produc-
ed by boring a small hole down thro
certain number of strata, or until
a water-carrying bed is reached.
which will be enclosed between two
impervious layers of rock. The basin
like shape of the Pecos Valley un-
doubtedly has a great deal to do with
the phenomenal ease with which
wells are obtained in almost all parts
of the district. An. authority Speak-
ing OF artesian wells says: 1T Sften
happens that a pOrus stratum, cohsist
ing of sand, sandstone, chalk or 10Th
er calcareous matter. is included be-
tween two impermeable layers of clay
so as to form fiat, porous U-shaped
tube, continuous from side to side of
the valley. the outcrop on the sur
rounding hills forming the mouth f
the tube. The rain filrering down
tom of the basin forms there a SUBJ
terranean pool which with the liquid,
or semi-liquid column pressing upon
it constitutes a sort of huge natural
hydrostatic bellows. 1t is obvious
then that when a hole is bored down
through the upper impermeable layer
to the surface of the lake, the water
will be forced up by natural law of
water seeking its level, to height
above the surface of the valley great
er or less, according to the elevation
of the feeding column, thus forming
natural fouptain on precisely The
same principle as that of most arti-
fetal fountains, where the water sup
ply comes from a considerable height
above the jet"
The first artesian well in Europe of
which we have any definite account
was located in a province of France
called Artois, hence the name Arte-
sian. At Aire, in that province. there
is we'll that has flowed steadily for
over a century 1t sends column
ground. 1t is interesting to know
that there are unmistakable eviden-
ces that boring for wells was practic-
ed by the ancients in Asia Minor. Per-
sia, China, Egypt, Algeria, Lombardy,
and even in the desert of Sahara.
Facts About the Pecos Valley.
The recorded mean temperature of
the Pecos Valley is: Spring, 63.1;
summer, 1875: winter, 43.9. The av-
erage rainfall is about twelve inches
per year. Water for drinking and
domestic use is obtained principally
from wells and is of excellent quail
ty; there are also cisterns, so that
soft" water is not an unknown lux
ury
The soil is porous and the drainage
perfect; malaria is unknown. The
| average altitude of the Valley is
3,400 feet above sea level The whole
of it may be looked upon as a health
resort than which there is none bet
ter anywhere on earth, particularly
for those afflicted with consumption,
in its incipient stage, bronchitis. asth
ma. and affections of kidneys and
liver
A mineral spring near the town of
Carlsbad pours into the Pecos river
5000 gallons of its health-giving wa
ter every minute. The water is almost
identically the same as that for which
the European springs of the same
| name are famous.
Alfalfa, the best fodder crop in the