l it is drawn upward by
the pump. It is obvious that a well of this type cannot be built
through ledge or solid rock. In fact, unusually large boulders
sometimes force diggers to abandon a shaft and start afresh. An old
house with two or three of these shallow wells on the premises serves
notice on the prospective buyer that repeated and probably
unsuccessful attempts have been made to find a well that does not go
dry.

Dug wells are seldom deeper than fifty feet; the majority are but
little beyond twenty-two feet, the suction limit for a shallow-well
pump. As is obvious from their construction, they depend on the water
in the upper layers of the subsoil and so are more readily affected
by dry weather. Although not drought-proof like the artesian, a dug
well, which costs much less, can be an excellent water source and
supply amazingly large quantities of water.

We have lived for ten years in a house served by a shallow well
credited with being never failing and it has faithfully lived up to
its reputation, even through the driest of seasons. Once, however, it
made real trouble. Over it stood a picturesque latticed well house. On
one of the beams a pair of robins nested annually. In the middle of
the third summer the water developed a queer flavor. It steadily grew
stronger until one night the steam arising from a hot bath caused the
pajama-clad head of the house to seize a flashlight and move hastily
to the well house. One beam of light disclosed the horrid truth.
Floating in the water far below were two very dead fledglings.

The next day a well cleaner collected twenty-five dollars for removing
the birds and pumping out the well. He also gave some excellent advice
which was followed promptly. The well house, picturesque though it
was, gave way to a substantial masonry curbing equipped with a stout
wire cover. The peace of mind so gained has more than offset the
trifling expense. No longer need one peer fearfully down a twenty-five
foot shaft when a pet cat fails to show up for a meal, or shoo away
from the spot the over-inquisitive offspring of visiting friends.

The drilled well, against which there is no possible argument save
that of cost, is made by boring a hole in the ground with a powerful
apparatus until sufficient subterranean water is reached. There are
two methods, the chop and the core drill. With the former, a cutting
tool exactly like the drill used to drive holes in rocks for blasting,
only larger