recently approved a scheme for the installation of an experimental battery of sixteen tube wells, operated by one prime mover, which will irrigate an area of 6,400 acres. This scheme, when it comes into operation, should throw much valuable light on the economics of tube well irrigation. The equipment required for pumping and boring operations is at present provided by Government and in tracts in which the scope of tube wells is limited or in which they are still a novelty, this must, we think, continue to be the case for some time to come. But in areas such as those in the United Provinces in which wells are being sunk in increasing numbers, private enterprise should not be discouraged by government competition in the manufacture of the plant, in hiring it out and in the provision of the skilled staff required to operate it and to effect repairs when necessary. Government cannot undertake responsibilities of this kind for an indefinite period and on an ever increasing scale. The limits of justifiable pioneering enterprise in this respect appear to us to have been already exceeded in the United Provinces. Even in areas in which tube wells are not at present in great demand, the longer the transfer to private enterprise is postponed, the more difficult it will eventually prove. Except in Madras and the Central Provinces, the Agricultural Department is the department which is responsible for pumping and boring operations. Apart from the fact that the agricultural engineers in the United Provinces and the Punjab have given special attention to the design and the technique of sinking tube wells and to the manufacture of the plant required, we consider that it is the department which is best fitted to undertake the work. The greatest incentive to private enterprise in sinking tube wells obviously exists in areas which have not the benefit of canal irrigation, that is, in tracts outside the normal operations of the Irrigation Department which would not, therefore, be in a position satisfactorily to supervise their construction and working. At the same time, it should be mentioned that the sinking of tube wells in waterlogged areas is often the most appropriate method of lowering the subsoil water. Again, the question whether, in any locality, a tube well is likely to prove a paying proposition depends, in part, on the depth from which the subsoil water has to be lifted and, in part, on the agricultural possibilities of the land to be irrigated and the marketing facilities available in the neighbourhood. These are matters in regard to which the Agricultural Department and its agricultural engineers are in the best position to advise. We would here reiterate the view already expressed in paragraph 106, Chapter IV, that, where pumping and boring operations are in progress in any province on a considerable scale, a separate branch of the engineering section of the Agricultural Department should be constituted which would concentrate on them alone. 281. There has, on the whole, been little or no expansion in the area under well irrigation since the Irrigation CommisORDINARY WELLS. sion reported, as the figures in Appendix VII show. The area irrigated by wells in British India in 1902-03 was 11.6 million acres; in 1925-26, it was 11.7 million acres. There were great fluctuations in the intervening period and the immense value of wells in years of drought is shown by the figures for the bad years, 1907-08, 1918-19 and 1920-21, in each of which the area irrigated by wells was over 14 million acres. The figures include those for tube wells, but the area under these is too small to affect them appreciably. The figures hardly give a true impression. Where there has been extensive construction of canals, these have superseded wells in several areas, the cost of irrigation from canals* being but a fraction of that from wells.† This is specially true of the Punjab.‡ Even when the expansion of canal irrigation, which has rendered wells unnecessary in large areas, is taken into consideration, it is disappointing that so little progress in sinking ordinary wells should have been made since the beginning of this century. Difficulties and cost of construction, the tenure on which land is held, the fragmentation of holdings, disputes amongst co-sharers, the uncertain return on the money invested and the power available for lifting water have all, either singly or in combination, proved limiting factors in this respect. Lack of water is rarely an obstacle in the alluvial tracts of the north; in peninsular India, it is often a difficulty. The construction of wells is essentially a matter for private enterprise, but there are many ways in which the agricultural and irrigation departments can help the landholder. The agency for minor irrigation works which we have recommended in paragraph 279, the agency for research into irrigation problems which we propose in paragraph 287 and the branch of the engineering section of the Agricultural Department which, under our suggestions in paragraph 106, Chapter IV, would deal with water-lifts should all be able to give the cultivator substantial assistance in the appropriate direction. Much useful work can be done in investigating the methods of constructing and of lining wells most suitable to his conditions. The systematic surveys of subsoil water supplies, which we have recommended in the preceding paragraph, will enable advice to be given him in regard to the probabilities of finding water. The agricultural engineer should be able to work out for him the cheapest and most efficient method of raising water when it has been found. If assistance is given in these ways, any reluctance to sink wells which arises from uncertainties as to whether they will pay or from lack of skill in constructing them should be overcome. Difficulties will still remain. Where holdings are very small, the cost of construction of a well may prove out of all proportion to the benefits to be derived from it by the individual cultivator. The only remedy in such circumstances lies in sharing the cost of construction amongst a number of small holders, but the risk of The decline is due to the extension of canal irrigation to tracts formerly dependent on wells. disputes is likely to prove a deterrent to joint action. The difficulty might be overcome by the formation of a small co-operative society for the sinking and working of the well. An increase in the number of ordinary wells is so desirable that we consider that every effort should be made to encourage the formation of such societies. It is a matter for regret that, in some parts of India, the number of abandoned wells is large. In tracts such as the Bombay Deccan, this is doubtless due to a fall in the subsoil water level which has made the working of wells unprofitable; but, in general, the abandonment of wells would seem to be due to fragmentation of holdings and disputes in regard to the division of the supply. We would suggest that, in tracts where the number of abandoned wells is at all numerous, a special enquiry should be made by the Revenue Department into the reasons why the wells have fallen into disuse with a view to ascertaining whether the difficulties can be removed. OTHER SOURCES. 282. As has already been explained in paragraph 268, the other sources of irrigation are of very various kinds. Although, in the aggregate, over ten per cent of the total irrigated area is irrigated from these sources and they are thus of great importance to cultivation, each individual work is usually quite small. There is great scope, we consider, for extending works of this character and also for increasing the efficiency of those already constructed. We trust that this development will be assisted by the suggestions made in paragraph 279 for the extension of minor works generally, of which these "other sources" form an important part. We desire, in particular, to draw attention in this connection to the possibilities of extending irrigation from small streams by means of power-driven pumps placed on the banks, or on temporary stages or floats where the permanent bank is at some distance from the water. We consider that this source of irrigation provides opportunities for fully protecting the harvest over many thousands of acres. Failure to turn these opportunities to account in the past has probably been due to several causes, amongst others, to the difficulties of securing suitable pumps, especially pumps combining a low lift with a high discharging capacity, the general lack of knowledge how to manage them and of facilities for effecting repairs, the cost of installation which places them beyond the reach of the small cultivator, unless he is able to combine with his neighbours, and the obvious difficulties of such combination. The difficulty of combination is probably the most serious and can, we think, be best cvercome by the formation of co-operative societies, the encouragement of which we have urged in the preceding paragraph in the case of ordinary wells. But there is also a wide field of opportunity for the branch of the agricultural engineering section, which will be responsible for pumping operations under the suggestions made by us in Chapter IV, to devise cheap and efficient pumps with suitable staging or floating platforms, where these are required to mount them, and to induce private enterprise to undertake their multiplication and the establishment of a repairing service for them. RELATIONS BE TWEEN THE AGRI- MENTS. 283. In its administrative aspect, irrigation presents in a marked degree the problem of co-ordinating satisfactorily the relations between two highly skilled services THE of technical officers. The raison d'être of the IRRIGATION DEPART- Irrigation Department is to assist the agriculturist by providing an assured supply of water. Each scheme of irrigation presents its own special agricultural problems. It might be thought, therefore, that no new project would be initiated by the Irrigation Department without the fullest consultation with the Agricultural Department both in regard to the suitability of the soil for irrigation, including the conformation of the subsoil, the nature of the crops that would be grown and the character of the supply that would be required for them. Such preliminary consultations do not, however, appear to be the universal practice. We were informed by the Director of Agriculture, Madras, that he and his department had no contact whatever with the Irrigation Department. Dr. Mann, the late Director of Agriculture, Bombay, expressed a desire for closer relations between the two departments. On the other hand, the directors of agriculture in the Punjab, the United Provinces and the Central Provinces declared themselves satisfied with the degree of contact maintained between the two departments which, however, is of a personal character and owes little or nothing to official organisation directed to that end. Yet it is from the Punjab that there comes a striking illustration of the need for consultation of the kind here contemplated. Two years after the colonisation of the Lower Bari Doab canal area was commenced, a soil survey revealed the fact that the area of culturable land was very considerably less than that which had been originally anticipated. Whilst we agree with the view that successful co-operation between any two departments must depend in very large measure on the personality of the heads of those departments, we are of opinion that the existence of formal official orders stressing the necessity of such co-operation would be salutary. Orders directing that the views of the Director of Agriculture must be obtained at an early stage on the agricultural aspect of all new irrigation schemes would serve as a reminder to both departments of the need for that close co-operation between them which alone can secure the adequate discharge of their responsibilities to the agricultural community. We are further of opinion that, when there is occasion for consultation between the heads of the agricultural and irrigation departments, their views should be placed formally on record. Conditions of service in India make frequent changes of officers inevitable and it is, therefore, all the more important that a permanent record should be kept of the views of those responsible for important decisions, together with any relevant data. Our object is to secure that the documents which are really material to the decisions reached by heads of departments should be readily available. We have little doubt that co-operation between the agricultural and irrigation departments would be rendered easier if the officers of the one department possessed a more intimate knowledge of the working of the other than they do at present. We would suggest, therefore, that the possibility of instituting a short course in agriculture for irrigation officers and in irrigation for agricultural officers should be carefully examined. Such instruction could, we think, best be given at the agricultural colleges. In regard to the curriculum at these colleges, we are aware that little, if any, scope is left for the inclusion of new subjects and it may be found undesirable to add to it even a short course of lectures in irrigation especially if any effort is made, as it should be, to give the student a practical insight into the workings of the irrigation system of the province. The institution of a short post-graduate or post-certificate course in irrigation will, therefore, in all probability be found preferable. This course would be open to all students but would be compulsory for junior officers of the agricultural departments. It would be confined to an exposition of the salient features of the irrigation, systems of the province, their problems and potentialities, the methods of distribution of water and the ways in which the agricultural officer can assist the irrigation engineer. The irrigation engineer, on the other hand, would be expected to acquaint himself with the agricultural aspect of the soils of the province, the nature and requirements of the crops grown under irrigation and the agricultural practices of the cultivators in the irrigated If care is taken to select suitable instructors, much could be learnt in a short course modelled on the lines of the rural economy course held at the Lyallpur Agricultural College to which we have already referred in paragraph 233, Chapter VIII. This course lasts one month and is designed to give officers of the Irrigation and other departments an insight into the work of the Punjab Agricultural Department. The knowledge acquired should, if possible, be tested by an examination. THE IRRIGATION DEPARTMENTS AND THE CULTIVATOR. 284. We consider that the time has come to devise means whereby the cultivators, for the furtherance of whose interests the irrigation departments exist, should have a more direct avenue of approach to the responsible officers of the department and to Government. At present, though full advantage is taken of the opportunities afforded by visits of inspection from the superior officers of the irrigation and revenue departments and by the right of interpellation possessed by members of the provincial legislatures, the representation of their needs is, in the main, effected through the subordinate officials of the irrigation and revenue departments. We do not wish to minimise the value of any of these channels of communication, in particular that provided by the provincial legislatures, which should certainly constitute the cultivator's ultimate protection. But something further is required to prevent questions arising out of the distribution of water from reaching a stage at which any section of the rural community regards itself as aggrieved. We would therefore suggest the creation, in those provinces in which irrigation is of importance, of an organisation on the analogy of the local railway advisory committees which would be composed of representatives of |