Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/719

 PRODUCTION — TRADE 597

valuable auxiliary to the regular infantry. The mountain batteries are believed to be serviceable. As engineers, the Hazara ' sappers, ' who are regularly enrolled, are excellent workmen. The Afghan army is said to number between 50,000 and 60,000 men, including 16,000 cavalry and 450 guns. In 1896, the Amir ordered a conscription of one man in every seven ; the conscription is carried out in a characteristically loose fashion, and there are many districts where it has been impossible to enforce it. Cannon, rifles, and ammunition are manufactured at the Kabul arsenal, and there are 30 mountain guns and Howitzers from Essen. Apart from large numbers of weapons of precision smuggled through Persia the State possesses prob- ably enough breech-loading rifles to equip 100,000 infantry, but It is un- certain how many of these weapons have been issued, or to what extent the troops are trained in their use. Few, if any, of the regimental ofiicers can be considered competent either to instruct or lead the troops. In recent years the Amir has entertained several Turkish officers for the training of his army, and considerable improvement has resulted.

Production.

There are five classes of cultivators — 1st, proprietors, who cultivate their own land ; 2nd, tenants, who hire it for a rent in money or for a fixed proportion of the produce ; 3rd, hazgars, who are the same as the metayers in France ; 4th, hired labourers ; and, 5th, villeins, who cultivate their lord's land without wages — i.e. slaves. There are two harvests in the year in most parts of Afghanistan. One of these is sown in the end of autumn and reaped in summer, and consists of wheat, barley, Erv^tm Lens, and Oicer arietintcm, with some peas and beans. The other harvest is sown in the end of spring and reaped in autumn. It consists of rice, millet, arzna {Panicum itctliciwi), Indian corn, &c. The castor-oil plant, madder, and the assafoetida plant abound. The fruits, viz. the apple, pear, almond, peach, quince, apricot, plum, cherry, pomegranate, grape, fig, mulberry, are pro- duced in profuse abundance They form the principal food of a large class of the people throughout the year, both in the fresh and preserved state, and in the latter condition are exported in great quantities.

Northern Afghanistan is reputed to be tolerably rich in copper, and lead is found in many parts. Iron of excellent quality comes from Bajaur (outside Afghanistan), and the Farmuli district (or Birmal), and a gold mine is being successfully worked under the supervisioa of a British^ mining expert at Kandahar, and is expected to yield a good profit ; gold in small quantities is also brought from the Laghman Hills, and Kunar. Badakshan was famous for its precious stones, especially lapis lazuli. The Amir has frequently engaged European geologists and mining experts to seatch for coal, but hitherto with little success.

Silks, felts, carpets, articles from camels' and goats' hair, and rosaries are some of the principal industries. At Kabul, soap, cloth, and some other articles are manufactured for local consumption. The sheepskin postin manufacture is one of the most important industries.

Trade.

No accurate registration of the trade o'f Afghanistan has yet been obtained. The trans- frontier trade between India and Afghanistan (according to Indian statistics) was as follows in four years ending March 31 : —