Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/196

188 RAE sink a pakka china cylinder about 16 feet below water level, without reaching clay, and owing to the sand bursting through the sides of the cylinder, I failed in procuring a successful sinking: The asámi with his limited means is helpless where sand is to be found under water level. "I cannot say how long pakka wells will last, but I would say, that if pro- perly built, and of good bricks, no well should give way before 60 or 70 years. In speaking of pakka wells, I mean wells built of pakka (burnt) bricks with mud mortar, not lime; for wells built with lime mortar are too expen sive for the cultivator. Wells built with small bricks are stronger, and last better than wells built with block bricks or with phaura-sbaped bricks. “ Block bricks are not now used, but the phaura-shaped bricks are gene- ral; a well can be constructed much cheaper with the latter than with small brick, Rs. 300 would on an average be a fair price for a well, of ordinary size on which eight purs could be worked; but such wells, under ordinary circumstances, can be built by asámis for sums varying from Rs. 80 to Rs. 150 each according to depth of well and quality of soil . Žamin- dars and asámis for their brick-kiln get their timber free, their manure free, their kanda free; for the well itself, the bamboos are seldom paid for, the necessary timber is free, no new purs or well ropes are made for the sinking operations, and the labourers are paid cheaply and bave much work got out of them. Where land is of first quality, a well, such as des- cribed by Mr. Chapman for irrigating 30 bíghas, would enable the landlord to enhance the rent by one rupee per bigha without oppressing the tenant, and, where the land was formerly not irrigated, should enable him to put on a greater enhancement, especially where brackish water is obtainable, when the rent can be doubled and trebled. “Wells do very often give way after a few years, but it is generally uwing to faulty construction, such as insufficient filling in behind the wall, or leaving the wooden foundation on unsafe clay, or digging a kachcha well inside, which after a time falls in, and brings the pakka superstructure down with it. Trecs such as fig, gúlar, pákar, bargad, or pípal growing in the interstices of the bricks do much damage to pakka wells. No repairs ought to be necessary to a well within ten years of its construction, and if an unfailing spring has been reached, there will be no necessity of even is worked is less liable to deteriorate than a well which is seldom used, Generally speaking the natives execute no repairs to their pakka wells, but allow them to crumble to ruins when a slight expenditure on repairs would save them, " Except in known localities there is no certainty of reaching an unfail- ing spring, and of late years, owing to excessive rains, the water level has risen, and the filtration of the subsoil has become so abundant, that it has been very difficult to sink the cylinder far enough to reach the genuine spring. The ordinary filtration of the subsoil would not suffice to irrigate 30 bighas of spring crops, though it may suftice to keep a couple of purs at work all day. The fact of the water getting low in a well could not put a stop to irrigation, so long as there is sufficient water in the well for the pur to sink in. Many wells, pakka and kachcha, are exhausted before noon