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In Badakhshan, 30 acres of land were sown with pistachio seeds and 13,805 Japanese mulberry seeds were planted in an attempt to foster sericulture. At Balkhab and Sar-i-Pul 5,500 poplars have been planted and two seres of almonds, apricots and pines sown. Sericulture Sericulture has been practised in various localities of Afghanistan for centuries. More recently, however, it has received the attention of those Govern-ment departments concerned with the increase in production of silk and the raising of the nation's standard of living. Experimental areas have been set aside in many provinces where silkworms are bred under the supervision of experts both Afghan and foreign, the services of the latter having been facilitated by the United Nations Technical Assistance Pro-gramme. Results so far have been encouraging and the future prospects of Sericulture in Afghanistan appear to be very good. During the year a new station has been established in Herat. The Gulbagh station in Kabul was completed at about the same time, and this year arrangements were made for the breeding of silkworms. In these stations the egg-laying moths are hatched, and these in turn are distributed throughout the country. Some 885 boxes of silkworm eggs have been distributed in Badakhshan. In Nangarhar 800 boxes were sold during the year, while at Herat the sales rose to 1,784 cases. Seven boxes were given to the Helmand Valley Authority, 170 boxes to the Cotton Union Co. of Kunduz and 20 boxes to the Village Development Project Headquarters. One sample box was sent to France. Thirty packages of the egg-laying moth were sent to the Baghlan Sugar Refinery for the second term of the year 1337 and twelve packages to the Kunduz Cotton Union Company for the first term of that year. At the Nangarhar station 182 packages of the egg-laying moth have been produced from 2,000 boxes of eggs. Parwan produced 1,000 boxes of eggs, the Tapa-i-Taj Beg station between 4,000 and 5,000 boxes, together with 330 packages of egg-laying moths. The cocoons gathered from all the stations amounted to 40 seres (640 lbs.). It has been decided to establish another station in Nangarhar, where 15 acres of land have been set aside for the cultiva-tion of Japanese mulberry trees. For the time being the grant for this purpose has been fixed at 280,000 Afghanis. Irrigation and Canal Improvements The Ajimir Canal, the Kelagai Desert and the Kokcha River have all been surveyed. Grafting olive trees in Pactya Province 47