J 52 C. W. ODLING, ESQ.^ M.INST.C.E., C.S.I.^ ON 



which I have previously referred, not however having proved 

 to be remunerative. 



The fact is that, except in very dry localities, it is not 

 easy to say how far canal water will be taken advantage of. 

 When the Sone canals, with which I was for many years 

 connected, were constructed, the opinion of the Engineers 

 and the Civil Officers was that spring crops, such as barley 

 and wheat, would, if anything, be more irrigated than 

 rice, for which it was supposed the rainfall, which averages 

 about 42 inches in the year, would in many places be sufficient. 

 The Lieut.-Governor, Sir George Campbell, insisted that the 

 canals should be designed with regard to the supply of water, 

 available in the river in the cold weather, when spring crops 

 are irrigated. On the other hand. Colonel (now General) 

 Eundall, R.E., the chief adviser to the Government of India, 

 advocated the canals being constructed chiefly with a view to 

 rice irrigation, with which he had long experience in Madras. 

 The Lieut.- Governor's views, as might be expected, prevailed, 

 and the canals were restricted in size, and otherwise designed, 

 in accordance with the Lieut.-Governor's opinion, as to the 

 work which they would be called on to perform. The actual 

 result has been, tliat the rice irrigation is limited only by the 

 amount of water available. So far as water can be guaranteed 

 for rice, the cultivators eagerly avail themselves of it, and 

 double the area of this crops could be irrigated, if water could be 

 supplied. In regard to spring crops, wheat, barley, and the like, 

 there is in most years little demand for water, not one-tenth of 

 the area for which water can be supplied is usually irrigated. 

 It is not by any means a matter of obstinacy or prejudice, as 

 where water is beneficial it is taken and, in some cases, lifted 

 by mechanical means 6 feet or more, at a cost of treble or 

 quadruple the amount of the water rate. Once in seven or 

 eight years, when the winter rains fail entirely, the whole of 

 the water which the canals can supply for spring crops is used, 

 but, generally speaking, it is the rice irrigation only that 

 counts. These canals, I may remark, pay at present 2 per cent, 

 on the capital outlay, but there is little doubt that had they 

 been designed with reference mainly to rice irrigation, the 

 return would be double. As it is they will, before many years 

 have passed, probably pay from 3 to 3 J per cent, on the outlay 

 incurred, and in years of famine the value of the crops saved 

 cannot be disregarded, in fact, from one point of view, it is the 

 greatest benefit they confer on the country. 



It is stated in a Government resolution, that for the year 



