The pay of the workman is mostly fixed at starvation rates, though several of the men, who have had their pay increased for doing some small work for the Amir himself, get too much so far as ability is concerned. The workshops were started about eighteen years ago, and the pay of many of the workmen, who were boys when they were first engaged, is still the same, although they have become of greater value to the Government by the experience they have gained, and that which makes it still harder for them is that the price of food has increased tremendously, and bread, which is their chief food, is four times the price now to what it was then. There are men who have been working on special machines from the time the shops started, drawing eight rupees per month (5_s._ 4_d._), and these are men with wives and families, and sometimes other female relatives dependent on them. How they live on it is a problem, but they are men with no surplus adipose substance on their bones, as may be imagined. Others, and they are mostly boys, who are taken on now for any new work, commence at ten rupees (6_s._ 8_d._) per month. Most of the ordinary machine men (turners, etc.), and hand-fitters, get from twenty to thirty rupees per month (13_s._ 4_d._ to 20_s._). Ustads get from twenty to one hundred rupees per month (13_s._ 4_d._ to 66_s._ 8_d._). Excepting in the Government workshops there are very few trades carried on in the country. The few trades there are, and they are all carried on in a small way only, are coppersmiths, tinsmiths, blacksmiths, gold and silversmiths, carpenters, leather workers, etc. The bulk of the commerce of the country is confined to dried fruits, which are exported to India and Russia. Fresh grapes are also sent to India, wrapped in wool, and enclosed in small round wooden boxes. Kabul and its neighbourhood produce large quantities of very good grapes, which sell in the season at about a penny for eight pounds, and for the best varieties at about a farthing per pound. I made wine from these grapes, blending two or three sorts; and after maturing for three years or so, it was equal to any of the wines commonly sold in India, and being pure grape juice, it was perhaps better than most. Apricots are also grown in large quantities, and grapes and apricots form the bulk of the dried fruits exported. Grain is also exported, though not in large quantities; but, with cheap means of carriage, a large trade in several articles could be brought about. Most fruits and vegetables grow well in Kabul, and large crops are given, the climate being particularly adapted for all fruits not requiring a tropical sun. In Jelalabad and Kandahar districts the heat is such that most tropical fruits are grown, and in the former district sugar-cane is produced in large quantities.