INTRODUCTION. 



xni 





Meernt 

 vision. 



Rohilkhand 

 Divisiou. 



Agra 

 Divisiou. 



A llahabad 

 Division, 

 excluding 

 Jaunpur. 



Benares 

 Division, 

 including 



Basti, 

 Gorakhpur 



and 

 Azamgarh. 



Jhansi 

 X)ivisioii. 



Kumaun 

 Division, 

 including 

 Tarai 

 only. 



Total of 30 

 temporarily 

 settled dis* 

 tricts of 

 N.-W. Pro- 



1. Total cultivated area, 



44,23,250 



39,83,423 



36,73,436 



38,95,806 



36,14,244 



13,07,559 



1,81,915 



2,10,79,633 



2. Total irrigated area, 



14,30,545 



4,15,992 



11,35,054 



6,18,480 



15,70,162 



65,058 



56,307 



52,91,598 



= per cent, on 1, 





io'4 



30-9 



*i5-9 



43*4 



4-9 



3-0 



25-1 



from wells, 



6,64,253 



2,18,256 



7,46,083 



3,68,175 



6,94,359 



49,611 



207 



27,40,944 



= per cent, on 2, 



46-4 



5^-5 



657. 





44*2 



76-2 



•4 





from canals, 



7,28,210 



47,503 



3,14,334 



1,24,510 



72 



1,132 



56,050 



12,71,811 



= per cent, on 2, 



5°'9 



ix-4 



277 



20'I 



•0 



1-8 



99'5 



24'0 



from other sources, 



38,082 



1,50,233 



74,637 



1,25,795 



8,75,731 



14,315 



50 



12,78,843 



= per cent, on 2, 



2-7 



36-1 



6-6 



20-3 



55-8 



22*0 



•I 



24*2 



The table exhibits some interesting contrasts. As regards facility of olitaiuing canal irrigation 

 the Meerut and Agra Divisions are about on a par, but in the Meerut Division the areas irrigated 

 from wells and from canals are nearly equal, while in the Agra Division the area irrigated from wells 

 is double that irrigated from canals. This is possibly due in some part to a greater tenacity of 

 the soils in the Agra Division, which makes well construction much easier and more remunerative. 

 Irrigation from streams and tanks is comparatively unimportant except in the Benares Division, 

 where these sources are replenished each year by much heavier monsoon rains than reach the West- 

 ern Districts. 



Irrigation wells may be divided into masonry and non-masonry, the former costing from ten 

 to twenty times as much as the latter, but being of course far more efficient and durable. In con- 

 structing a masonry well the English system of under-pinning is not practised ; a hole is dug down 

 to the water level, in which the masonry is built up, and the cylinder is then sunk bodily down 

 through the soil until it meets a stratum of sufficient tenacity to bear it. The sinking is effected by 

 excavating the earth from the centre, and heavily weighting the cylinder, and it is evident that this 

 would be only possible in a soft alluvial soil. Should a clay stratum not be met with the well is a 

 failure, since sand will blow up from below as water is drawn from it, and the cylinder therefore go 

 on sinking. The irregularity in the distribution of sub-surface strata has been already noticed, and. 

 to commence sinking a masonry well requires therefore a certain amount of enterprise as well as 

 capital. The number of buckets which the well will carry depends on its diameter, and commonly 

 varies from one to four. The cost of the well depends very greatly of course on its depth, but if 

 water be 30 feet below the surface, may be estimated as Rs. 200 for a single bucket, and an extra 

 Rs. 100 for each additional one. Earthen wells are much cheaper, and under favorable circum- 

 stances do not cost more than Rs. 10 or Rs. 12. f But their cost and durability depends very greatly 

 on the strata through which they pass. In some places they will last without repair for 10 or 12 

 years, while in others they need re-excavation each season. In very few cases can one be sunk 

 without passing through at least one layer of sand which is blocked from falling in by a lining, 

 ingeniously constructed of basket-work, grass bands, or wood, which is fixed in the well for the 

 depth through which the sand extends. Where the layers of sand are very numerous or continuous 



* Percentage lowered from the inclusion of the Bundelkhaad Districts of Banda and Hamirpur, in which there is little 

 or no irrigation. 



t In many tracts where the water level is high a hole in the ground which will water a few biswaa can be dug for a rupee or 

 even less.— VV. C. B. 



