Whose square root is 15.81. Ans. The plot must be 15 chains 81 links square. Seventy average paces is almost exactly equal to the side of a square acre. If you know the content and length of one of the sides of a rectangular figure it is easy to lay it off. Thus: Given a claim 10 chains long, how wide must it be to cover 5 acres? 5 times 10 equals 50 square chains. 10 divided by 50 equals 5. Ans. 5 chains wide. CHAPTER VIII. FLOATING A COMPANY. Should the prospector discover mineral that increases in amount as the mine is opened, and shows that it is likely to prove a profitable deposit, he will have little difficulty in selling out to some wealthy syndicate. But if his mine is likely to become a big producer he should try rather to organize a company, of which he should be a shareholder--the controlling one if possible--as then the output of the mine will probably make him a rich man. It is rare that a prospector selling outright obtains anything but a fraction of the value of a good mine. Nor is it reasonable to suppose he should. When he sells, the profits of the buyers are all in the future, and may never materialize. They take all risk, and consequently insist upon a bargain. The more money a prospector can invest in the development of a good mine the better price he is likely to get when he sells. Business men dearly like to see great masses of ore in the shafts and cuts, and are always more willing to pay a handsome price when they know something distinctly promising about the purchase. Let the prospector, therefore, lay open his prospect as thoroughly as he can with the means at his disposal, and if he has faith--as he should have--in the mine he is selling, let him take a good big block of stock in part payment. He must see to it, too, that sufficient working capital is provided, as there are very few mines that pay expenses from the start. Sometimes, when the shareholders are very timid, and but little money has been paid into the treasury in the first instance, they become restive after a call or two and refuse to honor further demands. This has been the ruin of many a promising venture. Supposing, however, that this mistake has been avoided, and that sufficient funds are in the treasury to meet all likely, legitimate drains upon it, the question of officers remains a weighty one. The board of directors should be level-headed, shrewd men, with common-sense, business ideas; the secretary should understand his work; and the mining engineer placed in charge of the mine should be one whose professional knowledge is equal to the demands of the position. The secretary must have such a knowledge of the proper price of labor, and material, as to detect any extravagance on the part of the manager.