Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-27
REST FOR THE WEARY,
Food for the Hungry, Joy for the
Sad, All in a Little Leaf.
THE WONDERFUL COCA PLANT.
How 1t is Cult ivated in South America and
Used by Natives.
ITS HABITUAL USE DOESN'T INJURB

most important industries of Bolivia, as we'll
as of Peru and Ecuador, is the cultivation of
the plant known to science as erythroxylon
coca. For many years past Bolivia's crop
of dried coca leaves has averaged trife
over z, 500, 900 pounds. Of this vast amount,
| fully 5b per cent is consumed at home by
the native Indians. about 80 per cent of
the remainder is divided equally between
| Chill and the Argentine Republic. Peru
gets 10 per cent of it; Europe per cent;
and the United States none at all.
Since alkaloid cocaine has lately come into
general use for producing local,anssthesia the
demand for the coca leaves from which it is
made has greatly increased, though without
sensibly affecting the markets of South
America. Soon as the application of Co
caine to surgical uses became common, the
British Government sent out commission
to collect the plants and transfer them to
India, and already the plantations of those
| far-off colonies are yielding so profusely
that they furnish plenty of leaves for the
German manu- facturer who supplies the
world with most OF the cocaine that is used.
NATURE OF THE COCA PLANT.
It must be remembered that the cocoa
palm, the seeds of which furnish the choco-
late of commerce, and the coca plant from
which cocaine Is made, are not related to
one another in any way, but belong to
different branches of the vegetable family.
Erythroxvlon coca is not a tree, but a
small shrub, growing from two to five feet
high. 1t houriShes best at an altitude be-
tween 5000 and 5000 feet above the sea,
in sheltered places where the climate
is warm and moist without excessive
heat. In this country it attains its
greatest perfection in the Province
of Yungas, where the mount
ain ridges, crossing in every direction, leave
deep hollows and narrow valleys between.
giving all varieties of climate with the pro-
not only produces the best coca in the
world, but vanilla and chocolate beans.
sarsaparilla. coffee, quinlne, oranges, figs,
bananas, grapes. apples, pears, peaches,
plums, strawberries, ounces, cherries, CHR
emayas, mangoes, apricots, sugar cane,
corn, wheat and barley are gathered from
the cooler heights, the sunny hillsides and
the lower villages.
A good deal of coca is also grown in Pc
ru in the neighborhood of Cuzio; but it is
of inferior quality, as the hot, dry atmos-
phere thickens the leaves and destroys their
delicate flavor.
HOW IT IS CULTIVATED.
The lower mountain sides OF the Yungas
and other valleys are laid out D terraces.
each terrace about yard wide and we'll
supported by a wall of stones, in which the
little coca bushes, closely esembling tea
plants, are set at regular distances. The
seeds are first sown in beds, and when the
plants are few inches high, they are trans
ferred to the terraces. No fertilizers are
used, but great care is taken that no grasses
or other growths are allowed to spring up
with the coca.
Each bush yields three generous crops of
leaves in year, and sometimes four, where
the conditions of soil and climate are pecu-
liarly favorable. Each crop is called
mita. The first, known as the "Marzo
mita" March CROP, is generally picked in
January; the second, or "St. Johns mita,"
is gathered in May; and the third, or Call
time, however. is by no means uniform, de-
pending greatly on the weather, the rain
and other accidents.
The crop is gathered by Indian women,
who pick it, leaf by leaf. squatted upon the
ground in front of bush. 1t is slow work,
because the tiny leaves must not be broken
or the central fibre torn; and it is believed
that if the apex of the plant is touched, or
if any animal brushes against it, all the
leaves VIII instantly wilmer.
DRYING AND PACKING.
Following the women come men with
large sacks, who collect the gathered leaves
and carry them to the cachi, or coca-yard,
to be dried. The cachi is enclosed BY q
wall, and paved with fat stones that are
kept perfectly clean. The morning sun
striking down on these stones, heats them
so that when the leaves are spread smoothly
over the surface they become perfectly dry
in few hours. Then they are re-collected,
more carefully than ever. having now be-
come somewhat brittle; and carried to the
press, the latter being a primitive machine,
with crossbeam made of the hard wood OF
the country. When completely dry the
leaves still retain their bright green color,
even after having been packed for months.
The press has a box which holds precisely
25 pounds. A lining OF dried banana leaves,
soft as silk yet strong as leather, is put into
the box before the coca is poured In. When
turned out of the press the package is called
a certa; and two certas, 80 pounds, when
lashed together form a tambo, or "drum."
The latter is wrapped in coarse sacking and
more banana leaves, and makes a bundle
which measures about three cubic feet. In
this shape it is toted over the mountains to
La Paz, on mule or llama back, to be de-
posted in the Adriano de coca, or coca
custom house.
GOVERNMENT GETS THE LIONS SHARE.
The average price of coca to the producer
is % cents (gold) per pound; but out of
this he has to pay tax of "a centavos
(about 13 cents gold) on every pound.
Think of cultivating, picking, drying and
packing the tiny leaves for that small profit,
to say nothing of carrying them several
days journey over the mountainsl
The Government derives no small share OF
its revenue from the coca business. The
right to collect the tax is "farmed out, !" or
sold to the highest bidder, sealed proposals
being received for the privilege. The man.
ner of tax collecting In Yungas is fair
sample of the mode throughout the
country. Tanacachi. village near
the western terminus of the val
lev, lies in a narrow canyon between impas-
sable mountains, through which there is but
one road. All the streets of the town ex-
cept that one leading into the canyon road
are securely walled up just outside the sub
urbs; 50 that all cargo must pass by way of
the Custom House, which stands at the
head of the canyon. Whenever an Indian
passes with a pack on his back or load on
his mule, if he does not stop and show what
he carries, or pay the tax if it be cocoa, he
quickly finds himself in trouble. Out
rushes o customs official, armed with long
iron poker which has a screw-like appara-
ratus at one end aud a heavy rawhide whip
attached to the other. The screw point he
thrusts deep into the middle of the cargo to
determine if any cocoa may be hidden with
in it: and should the Indian resist he does
not hesitate to use the whip on his back ad
libitum.
THE EFFECT OF THE DRUG.
,a,erp,aro IF aoao - De-,