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The Permian formation is over two thousand feet thick east of the Plains, but its thickness west of them has not been determined, only the upper beds being exposed in that district

The dip of the Permian strata on the east side of the Plains is to the northwest, while on the west side it is to the southeast

There are some water-bearing beds in this formation, and they might be a source of artesian water supply were it not for the fact that the strata along the entire western side have been partly cut through by the Pecos river, and the upper beds on the northern side by the Canadian; but this being the case, there is no hope that flowing water can be obtained on the high plateau of the Staked Plains from this source. Again, all the clays and sandstones of the upper Permian beds are highly impregnated with salt and gypsum, and even if water was obtained on the Plains from this formation, the probability is that it would be so heavily charged with these salts as to render it unfit for use.

The beds below the Permian on the Staked Plains are the Carboniferous. This formation is over —thousand feet thick on the eastern side of the Plains, and a section of fifteen hundred feet has been made of the western side. The dip of the strata on the eastern side is to the northwest, and on the western side it is toward the southeast. The rocks of this formation compose the high mountain range on the west, and if the other conditions were favorable water might be obtained in this formation that would come to the surface on the Staked Plains.

The Carboniferous strata west of the Plains has not been studied sufficiently to enable me to correlate it with the same formation on the eastern side, but enough is known to say that it is certain that only the lower part of the formation is seen in the mountains on the west. The depth, therefore, at which that part of the formation would be reached on the Staked Plains would be several thousand feet, so deep that it would be practically impossible to get water on the Plains from that source.

There is a popular notion that there is an immense sheet of water under the Staked Plains which finds its source in the mountains of Colorado; but there is no evidence of this, and if there was, the water would be at such a great depth that it could not be reached.

After as thorough an examination of the matter as I have been able to give, I do not hesitate to say that it is extremely improbable that artesian water can be had on the Staked Plains.

ARTESIAN WATER WEST OF THE PECOS RIVER.

The conditions for artesian water in the country situated between the Pecos river and the base of the mountains beyond are much more favorable than on the eastern side of the river. At places there are anticlinal axes running from the foot of the mountains toward the