Jess knew if he didn’t invest the money, he made that first year on the Summers place, he would have to give most of it to the government for income tax. First he went to Ross Byrne. Ross agreed to sell him the land above round top for $250.00 an acre. Part of this was state ground that Ross rented. We paid the same amount for ground that Ross did not own. Second Jess went to Loren Grover to see if he would sell the adjoining ground. Loren was excited, he wanted the money. Jess went to Russell and Wesley Grover and they wouldn’t sell, but they would rent the ground.
It was an awesome venture. Buying the ground and then putting a sprinkler system on it was risky. We had enough money to get the venture started. Four farmers drilled wells that spring beside us, Howard Allen, Ed Covington, and Russell Grover. We were the only one to get water.
Jess practically lived on the hill after they started drilling the well. I had never seen him that excited about anything. He wanted a twenty inch pipe for the entire depth of the well. We didn’t hit good water. Then the drill bit went off on an angel and one day when things were going badly the well driller went down the well casing on a rope to survey the situation. Finally they reached the depth that there should have been water. We had drilled deeper than planned.
It was the last week of June. We were being held up with the electricity being ready. The buried main line had been installed and all the lines were in place and it was the first week in July. The huge pump was turned on and there wasn’t enough water, only a few gallons a minute. I don’t know about Jess but I was sick. Jess and I drove to the bottom of the field and just sat there. We didn’t want every one feeling sorry for us. The well driller back flushed the well by turning the pump off and let the water run back down the hole. They did that twice. Then with a mighty surge the water came. We had a good well. The well was dug deep but the water came to about 700 feet which would be the pumping depth. Jess and I didn’t have time to celebrate. He was busy now getting the sprinkler system running smoothly. That night we lay in bed a long time counting our blessings and the success.
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