JULY 171 



— rod and all — if there remains one so successful as 

 MuUins was.' ^ 



Well, that was written two-and-twenty years ago, 

 and in that interval I have been in straits to find 

 water and I have employed, not a professional, but an 

 amateur dowser, with thoroughly satisfactory result. 

 Our County Council having condemned open springs 

 for the domestic supply of water and called upon land- 

 owners to provide covered wells, I found myself under 

 the necessity of sinking no fewer than ninety-five wells. 

 In ninety-three cases water was found without diffi- 

 culty ; wells were sunk and equipped at an average cost 

 of £25, or £2,375 in all. But on two farms we 

 were defeated ; we failed utterly to hit upon a supply. 



Hearing of our dilemma, Mr. Howson, a gentleman 

 of Lancashire, most kindly offered his assistance as an 

 amateur dowser. He had never been on the ground 

 before,''' but he came, he saw, he conquered. He 

 walked at high speed over the fields, quartering the 

 ground as a well-trained pointer might do, and carry- 

 ing before him, not the traditional forked hazel rod, 

 but a piece of stout, twisted wire, bent to form an acute 

 angle, with an end held in either hand. On both farms 

 he indicated a spot where we should sink a well ; we 

 did so and found an ample supply in each place, which 

 has never failed in the ten years that have goneby since. 



Some years previously, desiring to sink a well in the 

 garden, I had availed myself of the power of a lady 



^ Memorita of the Months, first series, pp. 84-7. 



^ The geological formation is Lower Silurian rock, overlaid with 

 glacial drift, the surface soil or tilth being rather light gravelly loam. 

 The land lies in a series of low ridges, and is under arable rotation. 



