RANGE WATERING PLACES IN THE SOUTHWEST 15 
man to follow when purchasing. Only a few points of particular 
importance are noted here. ; 
(1) Wind force is weaker and less uniform near the ground. Con- 
sequently the best results can not be secured unless the wheel is 
several feet above near-by obstructions, such as buildings and trees, 
and as far away from them as practicable. 
(2) The relative cost of steel and wooden towers will largely de- 
termine which should be used. (PI. VII.) Steel towers are un- 
common on southwestern ranges, because timber is cheaper and is 
accessible to many localities. Well constructed—bolted, spiked, and 
braced—towers of heavy timber, such as western yellow pine or 
Douglas fir, have proved satisfactory. The tower corners should be 
securely attached by bolts to durable posts, preferably juniper, 
firmly set in the ground, and then wound with wire. (PI. VII, A.) 
Where very large mills are located at exposed points, guy wires from 
the tower are advisable. 
(3) In setting up mills it will prove to be economy in the long run 
to employ skilled workmen and thus make sure that all moving parts 
are properly adjusted and vertical and horizontal axes are accu- 
rately aligned. , 
(4) Care in keeping all moving parts oiled and all bolts tightened 
will be repaid by longer life of the mill. 
WELL COSTS 
Table 4 gives a summary of cost data for 123 wells on the Coro- 
nado National Forest in Arizona (5). Most of these wells were 
equipped with windmills and a few with gasoline engines or with 
windmill and engine. Four of the shallow dug wells had only a 
rope and bucket. Storage tanks of earth, galvanized iron, concrete, 
or masonry supplemented the majority. 
TABLE 4.—Cost of equipped wells 
Depth 
Kana Nimbor Total | Average 
Maxi- | Mini- COS cost 
mum mum _ | “Verage 
Feet Feet Feet 
VES Usa a ee A or ea eae 74 150 8 42 | $45, 825 $619. 25 
16 100 40 58 13, 900 868. 75 
Drilled 14 190 100 140 12, 737 909. 78 
Metta asym Sete eR Ain hy ol See 10 280 200 231 12, 830 1, 283. 00 
9 375 300 327 13, 895 1, 543. 89 
Though many of these improvements have been made within the 
past 10 years, some are more than 20 years old. 
Costs of deep wells increase rapidly with the depth. A flat in- 
crease in the cost of drilling per foot is usually made for each 100 
feet in depth. During recent years the cost of drilling the first 100 
feet has ranged from $1.50 to $2.50 per foot, each additional 100 feet 
costing 50 cents more per foot. Where the drilling problem was un- 
usually difficult drilling costs were higher, but under very favorable 
conditions the cost of the first 100 feet was approximately $1 per foot. 
Examples of costs typical of fully equipped drilled wells of various 
depths are shown in Table 5. 
ee 
