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67 Handicrafts & Manufactures Industrially, Afghanistan is still under-developed, though the country is rich in minerals and possesses immense productive potentialities. There are at present four textile mills—two woollen (located at Kandahar and Kabul), and two cotton, one at Puli-Khumri and the other at Jabalus-Seraj. There is also a sugar mill at Baghlan which supplies nearly a one-third of the annual requirements of sugar of the country. Besides these, a new textile mill is being established at Gul Bahar and a sugar mill at Jalalabad. The Cotton Industry: Perhaps the most important industrial development in Afghanistan is the Cotton Company, which has its headquarters at Kunduz. This Company started ginning cotton in 1935. It has now 13 plants with 37 gins. There are plans for constructing more gins in different parts of the country, including Herat and Kandahar, to a total of 48. The Cotton Company supplies cotton seeds and lends money to the farmers to make it possible for them to grow cotton. In turn, it buys cotton raised by the farmers. In 1954 it purchased 32,353 metric tons, which grew on 85,500 acres of land. In 1955, 169,000 acres were planted and the estimated yield was 47,270 metric tons. The Company sent 320,000 pounds of seeds to the Helmund Valley and expects a yield of 2,000 metric tons from that quarter also. The Company not only buys, gins, and bales cotton it also manufactures by-products, including cottonseed oil, ceramics, and in some parts of Afghanistan it bales wool. As part of its plans for the expanion of the cotton industry, the Company distributes chemical sertilisers. It operates a 175-acre experimental farm at Kunduz, where the Ministry of Agriculture also has a 500-acre experimental farm. A mulberry