THE IRRIGATION AGE. 77 



all from an investment of $900 and for working about one -half the 

 time. Now, leave it to any farmer if our estimate of the average 

 farmers income is not high and to any successful well maker if our 

 estimate of his average income is not low. 



Look at it carefully. A farmer with $5,200 invested and 313 hard 

 working days in the year, and a profit of $1,500, if the season is ex- 

 tremely favorable. A well -maker with $800 invested and only 200 

 working days in the year, and a profit of $2,400 at the very lowest 

 estimate. 



But the business of making wells is not, and need not, be con- 

 fined to those who make it their sole occupation. It is a very profit- 

 able employment for the farmer, in the winter time, when both he 

 and his teams would otherwise be idle. For the thresherman, also, it 

 is a paying business, giving him work throughout the year. 



Then, why is it that, with a constantly increasing demand for 

 good wells, with improved machinery, with a maintenance of prices 

 that would do credit to any "trust," with unlimited opportunities for 

 study, advancement and progress, so few men enter into the business 

 of well-making and of those who do enter, so few succeed? 



Well making, as a business, is in its infancy. Its surroundings 

 and it environments, its commingling of hard work, long hours, mud, 

 water and slush, its annoyances and unexpected losses, repel the 

 ordinary business man and he will prefer more pleasent, even if less 

 lucrative, employment. This is the reason that those who do under- 

 take it are usually members of the farming and laboring classes. But 

 on the other hand, well-making is a business which demands more 

 than ordinary business ability, which requires tact, patience, skill 

 and scientific knowledge. Partners and laborers do not. as a rule, 

 possess these necessary qualifications, and when they undertake such 

 a business without preparation or experience, their failure is almost 

 certain. The fact that they fail keeps others, who might succeed, 

 from attempting it. It is more natural (and more self-complacent) to 

 condemn business than to condemn those who make a failure of it. 



The above are the principal reasons why so many men in search 

 of a livelihood are averse to taking up the business of well-making. 

 In this, in my opinion, they are making a mistake, and there can be 

 no question but that with proper methods and means, the business 

 can be enlarged and improved in its scope and made profitable as 

 well. 



What qualifications should a man possess in order to succeed in 

 the business of well-making? The same as in any other business. He 

 must be able and willing to work hard, at the same time to work in- 

 telligently. There are plenty of men -who work hard from morning 

 until night, every day in the year, who never rest or give up until 



