SPRING WELLS 151 



Fourteen per cent, of the gross cropped area is under 

 well irrigation. 



In popular language, wells are classed as permanent 

 or temporary {pokka and kachcha), and this rough- 

 and-ready distinction corresponds to a well-known 

 economic observation with regard to capital — namely, 

 that the more elaborate forms of capital are repaid 

 only after repeated use, and that the simpler forms of 

 capital are replaced by use in a single season. 



There are, broadly speaking, two descriptions of 

 permanent wells — spring wells and percolation wells. 

 In the great alluvial tract north of the Jamna a per- 

 manent well usually consists of a brickwork cylinder 

 sunk through the upper strata of alternate clay or 

 loam and sand, down to an impervious stratum of stiff 

 clay, known as the niota, through which a hole is made 

 into the sandy stratum below. Through this hole a 

 plentiful supply of water rises into the cylinder, some- 

 times to a height above that of the general level of the 

 subsoil water-table outside the wells. These wells 

 are therefore designated spring wells. When the 

 hole is first made through the stiff clay stratum or 

 mota, a certain quantity of sand is forced up into the 

 well with the water. After a short time the emission 

 of sand ceases, and if the jnota is a good one (3 to 

 5 feet of hard clay) no further sinking of the well 

 takes place. The emission of sand ceases only when 

 the hollow inverted cone, which forms below the 

 mota, presents a large enough surface to admit of the 

 required volume of water being discharged through it 

 at a velocity which will not disturb the grains of sand. 

 The cost of a well of this description depends chiefly 

 on the depth of the mota, which may be great even 

 though the subsoil water is high. The average cost 

 to the cultivator of a well of two buckets may be 

 put at Rs. 200 or Rs. 300, and the average area which 

 each well will irrigate during the rabi season at 8 or 

 9 acres. 



