Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-07-27
BIG FLOW CONTINUES
AT ARTESIAN WELL
> Talent Gusher 1rrisating q Bis
Orchard-Another Well BEING
Bored and Others Soon.

Though it is now a month since the
artesian well was opened on the fruit
farm of M. L. Pellett, near Talent,
yet the flow of water is as strong as it
! was the day it first began to gush
J forth. j. s. Howard, the veteran
civil engineer, formerly a resident of
this county but now of Medford, has
made personal examination of this
famous we'll, that bids fair to in.
augurate new era Of irrigation in
Rogue River Valley, and he gives the
first accurate description of the gusher
that has been published In the the
papers of jackson county. The fol.
lowing is Mr.. Howard's report as
published in the Medford Mail:
81 visited the Pellet orchard last
Sunday" said Mr.. Howard, "and
while l expected to find q flowing
we'll. was surprised at the volume
of water coming therefrom. The 10
inch hole is 800 feet deep and from it
flows stream which I estimate as
closely as possible to equal 40 miners
inches, or about 480 gallons minute
over. twice the capacity Of the Med
ford water system when working on
full time, and this well works "a
hours day. The water is carried
in ditch 30 inches wide-the water
being about four inches deep and
moving at the rate of two feet a
second-along the south side of the or
chard, and laterals carrying the water
between the rows of trees. You can
readily see the improvement in the
appearance of the trees. They look
strong and thrifty and the foliage is
healthy in its color. The water is
soft, pure and clear, and its temper
ature about so degrees. This we'll, In
my opinion, proves that what the
geologists have been telling us about
this country is not borne out by the
facts. The wise men have been in
structing us that this country had
been so badly broken up by Volcanic
upheavals that there would be little
if any likelihood of artesian water
being found in the valley. The
difference between the flow Of the
well at the Ashland depot yards and
that at Pellett's seems to prove the
theory had formed. That is: That
at one time this valley was lake,
perhaps an inland sea. A convulsion
of nature occurred, which resulted in
the surface formation being broken
up, at the same time the gap through
which Rogue river runs was made and
the lake was drained. The surrounding
hills were shattered by this internal
convulsion, but the basin of the an
cient lake remained intact. Figuring
from that standpoint, the small flow
from the Ashland we'll and the larger
flow from the Pellet well, confirms
the theory. Ashland is nearly 300
feet higher than Pellett's place and,
assuming my idea to be correct, would
be very nearly at the upper rim of the
original rock basin of the prehistor ic
lake, naturally reducing the pressure.
If an artesian we'll should be sunk in
Medford we might be compelled to 60
deeper than Mr.. Pellett did, but l
think we would have stronger press
ure, as according to my idea, Medford
is located very nearly the center of
this ancient lake basin. am willing
to contribute my share towarl the
capitalization of company formed
for the purpose of sinking a well in
Medford or its vicinity. Three
thousand dollars would be ample capi-
! tai and l am of the opinion that it
would be a paying investment.
The day following that water was