Evening star., 1914-04-26

The old oaken bucket, the iron bound bucket.
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the
well.
MO receptacle in all literature is more
~ widely celebrated. But, alas! the
bucket is no longer moss covered. The
windlass that drew it up is out of repair and
useless, and the rope is gone. The well is dry!
This sort of thing has come to pass all over
the country. Where wells have not gone
dry, their water level is much lower than it
used to be- Commonly the farmer or other
rural resident has been obliged to have a
deep well drilled, operating it by pump or
windmill, in order to obtain a supply of
water.
Now what is the reason for this state of
affairs? Why should the water in the ground
show palpable signs of disappearing? What
is it that has happened, and how likely is it
that the process will continued
This is question that has recently abb
sorbed great deal of anxious attention on
the part of the government; for, while the
lowering of the level of the water in the
ground is locally an inconvenience, it is des-
tined, where the country as whole is con-
cerned, to bring diminution of crops and
even ruin to our agriculture, unless measures
are taken to put stop to the mischief.
In order that this may be understood, it
should be realized that the water in the
ground represents the accumulated rainfall
of many years, stored by provident Nature
in the soil and the rocks beneath for main
tanning the growth of plants and to keep up
the even flow of rivers and small streams.
1t is upon this stored water that our crops
mainly depend. Over the greater part of
the settled country it alone renders farming
feasible, and so may be said to sustain pro-
duction and population.
1t is obvious, then, that any reduction in
the quantity of this water is great mis-
fortune Properly considered, it is the agri-
cultural reserve capital of the country, be-
cause on it productivity depends.
IF things are allowed to continue for an
other century as they have been going on
hitherto, vast areas that are now yielding
abundant crops will become practically
desert.
At first glance this might seem to be
merely a scare born of scientific imagination.
But the matter is not one of opinion; it is
proved fact. The Department of Agricul
ture, by means of what it calls @well cen
sus," has recently measured the depth of
many thousands of wells all over the coun-
try,-determining their water level, that is
to say,-and, by comparing the results with
similar measurements running back in many
cases for over fifty years, has reduced it all
to definite figures.
If one digs down into the earth, he reaches
water at greater or less depth. Suppose
that the hole is well, the water percolates
into it from the surrounding soil and rocks,
finally establishing itself at a certain level.
This level is the surface level of the ground
water; which, one should realize, forms a
sort of subterranean lake, extending beneath
the entire mainland of the continent.
1t is none the less lake because its water
is contained in the subsoil and the rocky
strata beneath. Through the rocky strata
it is continually flowing; such rocks con-
tanning, perhaps, twenty-five per cent. of
their bulk in water. But here and there this
stored water appears on the surface in the
form of what is called pond, or even as
lake that may cover thousands of square
miles.
If a reservoir was built of the exact size
and shape of the entire United States, and
filled with water to the depth of seventeen
feet, this quantity of fluid las estimated by
the Department of Agricultural would just
about represent the quantity of water that
is stored in the surface crust. 1t is supplied
to the roots of growing plants by the seepage
upward called capillarity. But the lower its