CHAPTER XI 

 HOW TO ESTIMATE PROFITS 



NO man who engages in manufacturing 

 or merchandising knows how much 

 he is going to make annually during life. 

 Much less does he know how much he will 

 be worth when he dies. Neither does the 

 man who works for a salary or practices 

 some profession for fees know what his 

 annual income will be even during the fol- 

 lowing decade. Neither one nor the other 

 knows whether he will die a millionaire or a 

 pauper. It is a problem too complex for 

 any human mind to analyze. It is less cer- 

 tain than what the weather will be on this 

 day next year, because it is the resultant of 

 more variable factors. 



In some respects there is more hazard in 

 farming than in manufacturing or in mer- 

 chandising, while in other respects there is 

 much less. The profit which may be ob- 

 tained from farming is neither easier nor 

 more difficult to estimate than is that of 

 117 



