Beulah Bronson, age 13, of Linden, Alberta, Canada, for her question:

How does water witching work?

There are two opposite opinions on this subject. One group of very positive thinkers insists that water witching works by some sort of magic. Either a person has the gift, or he has not. If he has, he can prove it by holding out a forked stick and walking along. If and when the stick joggles, it indicates there is groundwater below the surface. A well digger digs down and, sure enough, he comes to water.

Everybody is amazed, except those who refuse to believe in the magic of water witching. They point out that there is groundwater under our entire continent. In most places, it can be found within ten to 50 feet below the surface, though in the arid Southwest it may be several hundred feet deep. So a well digger is pretty sure to find water under any spot he decides to dig, if he digs deep enough. A water witcher or a geologist may or may not be able to tell him just how deep to dig. After all, nobody is perfect