152 AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL 



When the mota is at a great depth, or does not 

 exist, water can only enter the well slowly by percola- 

 tion through its sides or through the sand on which 

 the well rests. The well has then to be of much larger 

 diameter than is necessary in the case of a spring 

 well ; otherwise the sand would be drawn with the 

 water into the well, and the masonry cylinder would 

 gradually sink. Although wells of this description are 

 of larger diameter, they are usually of less depth than 

 the spring wells. They are cheaper to construct, but 

 irrigate a smaller area. 



During the last decade the number of masonry 

 wells in use for irrigation in the United Provinces has 

 increased by 51,000, or by about 12 per cent. This 

 increase, though substantial, is proportionally much 

 less than those shown in the provinces of Madras, 

 Bombay, and the Panjab. The fact, however, of a 

 very large increase during the past thirty years in the 

 districts which have recently come under revision of 

 settlement is unhesitatingly affirmed by all settlement 

 officers, and may be accepted. In the eleven districts 

 of Oudh the number recorded at settlement has risen 

 from 50,835 to 119,942, an increase of 132 per cent. In 

 some parts of these districts the number of wells is 

 now so great that there scarcely seems room for any 

 further large increase without affecting the supply of 

 water in existing wells in dry years. For instance, in 

 the Haidargarh parganna of Barabanki, covering an 

 area of over 100 square miles, there are twenty-seven 

 wells to the square mile of total area, or one well 

 for every 14 acres of cultivation, and more than two- 

 thirds of the wells are permanent. But the principal 

 cause of the small increase during the past decade in 

 the number of masonry wells in these as compared 

 with other provinces is no doubt to be found in the 

 reliance which is placed on temporary wells. 



In no province in India are the general facilities for 

 the construction of small temporary wells at all com- 



