The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-07
THE SEARCH FOR POTASH. Progress of Work of United States
 Geological Survey.

The United States Geological Survey has just Issued a short report, by Hoyt s. Gale, on the progress of the work of deep drilling for potash which Nevada, near the town of Fallon. While no discovery of potash salts is announced by the Survey, MT. Gales report Is a distinct and valuable con- tribution to the discussion of potash, setting forth clearly the broad, basic reasons which lead the geologists to the belief that they will find, sooner basins commercial deposits of soluble potash such as constitute the great Stassfurt beds in Germany.
 Last winter Congress appropriated $20, ,000 to enable the Geological Sur vey to prosecute search for potash, the money becoming available July 1. An appropriation of $12.500 was also made to the Bureau of Soils for like purpose, and it was mutually agreed that the two appropriations should be administered in the spirit of co-opera- tion, with an avoidance of duplication in work and territory.
 FIVE SOURCES OF POTASH.
 In summary of the occurrence of potash in the United States, publish ed by the Survey last winter, five gen. eral sources were mentioned-O ig-
 
 salines. and (5) organic sources, in- cluding wood ashes, beet-sugar molas- ses and residue, wool scourings, and seaweed or kelp. The Geological Sur vey has confined its activities to work on mineral saline deposits and is de- voting large part of its appropria- tion to the project of drilling for pos sible deposits of buried salts.
 WYOMINGS POSSIBILITIES.
 The first field work under the new appropriation was done in southern termed the "Red Beds," which are known to be rich in salines, suggest ing for many reasons the possibility of carrying deposits of the Stassfurt type A considerable amount of study had already been devoted to this area and accordingly the data relating to the Wyoming salines were collected and reviewed and this work was followed by field examinations. These inves- tigations indicated that the assumption of the existence of beds of potash salts in the Laramie Basin in southern Wy oming is logical, but the data at hand, which were fairly complete, proved to be chiefly of negative character so far as revealing any unusual amounts Of potash is concerned.
 REALIZING ON EARLY. SURVEY
 WORK.
 Extension of the study of the Great Basin desert region revealed this as the most promising area for the Sur vey's first drilling operations. This conclusion was based largely on the early geologic work of G. K. Gilbert and I. c. Russell, who, in Survey Monographs I and xI, describe in sci- entific detail the prehistoric Lakes Bonneville and Lahontan. These an- cient lakes were, in a former geologic age, enormous bodies of water, many times the area of Lake Superior, and MT. Gale states that no more convinc- ing reason can be advanced for the belief that immense quantities of sa- line material must be included in the strata underlying the desert sinks of the Great Basin than that set forth in the philosophic writings of these em- inent geo1ogists. His report contains direct quotations from these mono graphs, describing in detail the origin and structure of the old lake beds, treatises, representing field investiga- tions in the early eighties, a wealth of maturely digested data on which to base the proposed plan of operation in 1911. From the study of these reports with their excellent maps it was con- of the hypothesis of possible buried sa- lines in concentrated form would be somewhere in the low portions of eith- CT the Lahontan or the Bonneville basin. The Lahontan basin was cho- sen because that lake Is known to have never overflowed. The drill site select ed is in section 30, T. 21 N, R. 30 E., in Nevada.
 DRILLING IN NEVADA.
 A drilling outfit having been ship ped from Pittsburgh, operations were begun on October l with a 12-inch drill hole and the site was named the Timber. Lake Well. The report gives the log of the we'll. which on Novem- Der IS had reached the depth of 319 feet. Evidence of the geologic period of desiccation in the form of crystaliiz- ed beds of saline material has not yet been found in the strata penetrated, but it is expected that the drilling will be continued until at least a depth of 1000 feet Is reached
 The discovery of such saline depos- it's, though it's likelihood is supported by the best geologic information of to- day, says Mr. Gale, should perhaps be rnc~thsvt<~r va%Y,e~ %t,ov, a