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 (pakka 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 mota, 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 mota 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. 



