84 VREDENBURG : RECENT ARTESIAN EXPERIMENTS IN INDIA. 



of desert. Viewed in this manner, the result must appear very 

 small, yet it is here that the capabilties of artesian water are seen 

 to their best advantage, since they render cultivation possible in a 

 land which must remain otherwise absolutely unculturable. 



With all other conditions remaining the same, there is no doubt 

 that as the rainfall increases the amount available from artesian 

 sources might be increased in about the same proportion. But the 

 same proposition would not hold good with respect to the amount of 

 land cultivated : with an annual rainfall of about five inches, desertic 

 conditions must prevail, and if there is no river, the country must 

 remain without cultivation except perhaps for a few small areas 

 under irrigation from natural underground reservoirs scattered at 

 intervals, just as in Baluchistan or in the Sahara. If we now turn 

 Inefficiency of artesian our attention to other countries where the 



resources for irrigation . . r „ . ... , . . . , 



in humid regions. mean annual raintall is thirty inches instead 



of five, the amount of water stored in underground reservoirs will 

 also increase in the same proportion so long as their capacity is 

 such that they do not overflow. But it is not so with the area 

 cultivated : instead of the few acres of cultivated land being increased 

 in the proportion of five to thirty, we are now dealing with countries 

 where one-half, three-quarters, or more perhaps of the land is 

 under cultivation. For, with increased humidity, agriculture no 

 longer depends on purely local and exceptional conditions of stor- 

 age and distribution, but the rainfall over any part of the area is 

 sufficient to supply the local needs, making irrigation superfluous. 

 In places where the rainfall is so abundant as to be sufficient even 

 in years of minimum rainfall, artesian wells cease to be of any value 

 as a means of irrigation. But there are some regions where, 

 although the rainfall is generally sufficient, yet its amount is just 

 on the limit of what is needed, and consequently, in years of mini- 

 mum rainfall, the amount is below the requirements of the land. 

 Hence, although irrigation is superfluous in ordinary seasons, some 

 form of storage of water is necessary in order to save the country 

 ( 14 ) 



