New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-04-26
by RUPERT BALCH

vidcd with sweep or windlass. This was the
halcyon period of the old oaken bucket.
Year by year. however. the level of the
water in the old well became lower: until az
last, IN order to obtain a sufficient water
supply, the farmer was obliged 20 have a
deep well drilled, TO be operated by wind
mill or pump. incidentally 1t often hap
pcncd that the gurEling trout brook ceased
to flow, and the current of the clcar-running
mill stream was greatly reduced m volume.
There was increasing difficulty in getting
water for stock. and increasing uncertainty
of a community supply
This sort of thing has been going on pro-
grosslvcly, and still continues AS shown by
the measurements of wells made in thirty
one States, comprising l,73i,i33 square
miles, or considerably more than half the
area of the mainland OF the United States.
the level of the ground water has been falling
at the rate of about thirteen and a half
inches a decade. Suppose an average period
of eighty years TO have elapsed since earliest
settlement this means a lowering of nine
feet If 1t be assumed that the water repre-
Sents twenty-five per cent. of the subson and
rocks beneath, this IS equivalent TO a loss of
two and a quarter feet of actual water.
This was described by Professor w !
Niece rs "a national loss of substance COM
parable 20 the destruction Of the forests, and
far exceeding in Importance the waste OF
coal and metal. IL represents an advancing
national impovcrshmcnt.'
The matter becomes more obviously Sc
rious when 1t is considered that the present
upper level of the ground water is not far
from the limit of its availability for crop
growth That is 20 say, If it goes much
lower, the land will become unproductive
And. be il understood, this state of affair
exists over nearly all that part OF the coun-
try which is the bread basket and meat ham
per of the nation
Nearly everywhere the same story is told
Springs are failing, wells are lowered, water IS
growing SCarcer from year 20 year. Such re-
ports come from two-thirds Of the States and
half the area of the United States the half
that is TO say, which supplies the greater part
of our foodstuifs and most Of our clothing
one may find this subject fully discussed
~ bv Professor Niece IN a recently ISSUED
bulletin NO. 92) of the United States Bureau
OF Soils. He SAYS that the average rainfall II
the United States IS thirty inches a year
To maintain full productivity, sixty inchc.
are required. Half the country IS under
watered much of It so far as 20 be prac
ticallv uninhahitable. Even in the better
watered sections the rainfall during the
growing season seldom sutfices for the pro-
duction of a full crop; So that generally the
productivity Of the country IS dependent
upon water stored in the soil and underlying
rocks within draft by the growing plants.
The habitability of a continent depend.
on its water supply,-no water, no plants
no plants. no people. The seasonal rainfall
(savs Professor Niece may be hkened 20 &
currency forming the basis Of farming opera
tons: while the store Of water accumulate
within the earth is a reserve capital on which
the permanent success Of agriculture de
ponds.
II the United States was half as big, wit
the present amount of water properly dis
tributed. Its capacity for production and the
maintenance Of population would be az
great as now. with the advantages OF reduced
distance and cost Of transportation and OF
better social and industrial facilities. lr
other words. II would furnish subsistence to'
as MANY people, with much more conve
nlencc for all.
When natural conditions governed, there
was little surface run-off Of water. Prac
ticallv all the storm and thaw waters entere,
the soil. 10 escape slowly by seepage into
streams and springs. The subsoil was kept
su-clarged with water often quite ~ Tho