, cuts a circular hole downward. The boom of the drilling
rig as it raises and drops the drill provides the necessary impact.
With the core method, as its name implies, a hollow boring drill cuts
its way aided by steel shot and a flow of water forced through the
pipe that rotates the cutting tool.

With either method the results are the same. Sooner or later the drill
will reach an underground water course of sufficient size to give an
ample flow. As such drilling is done on a charge of three to five
dollars a foot, the owner, of course, hopes for sooner. Except where
there is an underlying stratum of sand or gravel beneath hard pan, the
drill has to go through rock. How far depends on the kind. Sandstone
is the best water producer; limestone yields very hard water. Again,
drilling through till (a heterogeneous mixture of clay, gravel, and
boulders) may or may not locate water readily depending on how densely
it is packed. The rocks known as gneiss and schist are readily bored
and are considered fair water bearers.

Granite is bad news. It means slow work and a deep and expensive well.
It is one of the hardest rocks with little water content. The only
hope is that the drill will strike a vein flowing through a fissure.
Whether it will be at fifty or 500 feet is a pure matter of luck. A
dry well at 100 feet may become a gusher at 105 delivering twenty
gallons to the minute, or it may stay dry for another two to five
hundred feet.

Tales of well drilling are many and varied. Good pure water has been
found at fifteen feet. In New Hampshire there is a well 900 feet deep
that gushes so powerfully that it is capped and still flows at forty
pounds pressure. It supplies an elaborate country place and a large
stock farm. It is performances like these that indicate the water is
there if one will just keep on drilling and paying until it is
reached.

Where to locate a well is very much a matter of guess. Even in the
Sahara Desert there is water. How far down is the question. For
generations much faith was placed in diviners. They were supposedly
endowed with some occult talent that enabled them to pick a sure spot
for water. They were known for miles around and were summoned when a
new homestead was under consideration. With a forked hazel wand held
in both hands, such an one would pace solemnly around until the stick
gave a convulsive twist downward. This indicated that water was
directly beneath. The spot would be reverentl