Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-26
A BOON TO HUMANITY.
Erythroxylon Coca, From Which Co.
oaine is Extracted.
CULTIvATING THE PLANT.
A south American MISUNDERSTANDING
Effects Of Chewing the Leaves-FOOd
aud Drink for the Natives-Terraccs
Of Growing shrubs.
ON THE Stars Travelling Commissioner.

1
INN Bolivia, as we'll as of Peru and Ecuador,
is the cultivation Of the plant known to
AV science as erythroxylon coca. For
49, many years past Bolivia's crop of dried
coca leaves has averaged trife over 1906, 0OO
pounds. OF this vast amount fully IS 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 Re-
public. 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 anesthesia
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 cocaine to surgical uses became common
the British government sent out COM
mission 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 Ger
man manufacturer who supplies the world
with most OF the cocaine that is used
| THE COCA SHRUB.
1t must be remembered that the cocoa palm,
the seeds OF which furnish the chocolate 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. Erythroxylon coca is
not tree, but small shrub, growing from two
| to five feet high 1t fiourishes best at an alti-
tude between 5000 and 1000 feet above the sea
| In sheltered places where the climate is warm
and moist without excessive heat In this coun-
try it attains its greatest perfection in the
province OF Yungas, where the mountain
| ridges. crossing in every direction, leave deep
hollows and narrow valleys between. giving ali
varieties OF climate with the productions pc
culiar to each. That section not only produces
the best coca in the world, but vanilla and
chocolate beans, sarsaparilla, coffee, quinine,
| oranges, figs, bananas, grapes, apples, pears,
peaches plums Strawberries, ounces, cherries,
chlremayas, mangoes, apricos, sugar cane,
corn, wheat and barley are gathered from the
cooler heights, the sunny hilsides and the
lower villages. good deal deal of coca is
also grown in Peru in the neighborhood of
CuzO; but it is of inferior quality as the hot,
dry atmosphere thickens the leaves and de-
stroys. their delicate flavor.
COCA TERRACES.
The lower mountain sides of the Yungas and
other valleys are laid out in terraces, each ter
race about yard wide and we'll supported by
wall Of stones. in which the little coca
bushes, closely resembling tea plants, are set Mt
regular distances. The seeds are first sown in
beds, and when the plants are a few inches
high they are transferred 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 a year and
sometimes four, where the conditions OF soil
and climate are peculiarly 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 'All Saints
mita, In October. The harvest time however
is by no means uniform, depending greatly on
the weather, the rain and other accidents.
HOW THE CROP Is GATHERED.
The crop is gathered by Indian women, who
pick it leaf by life, squatted upon the ground
in front of bush. 1t is slow work, because the
tiny leaves must not be Broken or the central
fiber torn; and it is believed that if the apex
OF the plant is touched, or if any animal
brushes against 1t, all the leaves will instantly
wlther. Following the women come men with
large sacks, who collect the gathered leaves
and carry them to the cachi or coca ward to
be dried. The cachi is inclosed by wall. and
paved with fiat stones that are kept perfectly
clean. The morning sun striking down ON these
stones heats them 30 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 become somewhat brittle. and carried to
the press, the latter being a primitive
machine, with crossbeam made of
the hard wood Of the country When COM
pletey dry the leaves still retain their bright
green color, even after having been packed for
months. The press has a box which holds pre-
cisely rs pounds. lining of dried banana
leaves, soft as silk yet strong az 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 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
1t IL toted over the mountains to La Paz on
mule or llama back, to be deposited in the
adriano de coca or coca custom house.
TRANSPORTING THE CROP.
After picking season the roads leading out
Of the valleys are literally filed with beasts of
burden laden with coca and troops Of Indians
on their way to town to sell the fruit of their
iabors, or on the way home. generally empty
handed but in a state OF jolly intoxication, the
women outdoing the men in their enjoyment
OF the spree-singing, dancing, bowling like
so many lunatics, but always docile and re-
spectful to the superior race, though they oc-
casionally indulge in little hair pulling among
themselves.
Thus the whole coca crop grown in the low
lands must pass over the great Cordillera. to a
height of nearly 1900 feet, before
it can reach the market. A good deal
is ruined in transit, when not suffi-
such as the usual snowstorm to be encountered
in the upper heights, rots the delicate leaves
and destroys their cocaine properties. That
which Is exported from Bolivia is rewrapped at
the adriano in bales Of $50 pounds each, COW
cred first with rawhide, then with strong cloth
and thick coating added of some resinous
gum. Two of these bales or 300 pounds is con-
sidered mule load for the long hard journey
between La Paz and the sea. 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 IS cents gold on every
pound. Think OF cultivating, picking, drying
and packing the tiny leaves for tina. small
proht, to say nothing of carrying them several
days journey over the mountains!
THE GOVERNMENTS TAXES.
The government derives no small share of its
revenue from the coca business. The right
to collect the tax is EARNED out" or sold to
the highest bidder sealed proposals being re-
celved for the privilege. The contracts are
given for one year only, running from the 18th
OF June to the 10th of the following June A
greater part Of the tax goes into the public
treasury and the balance is used for improving
the rough roads over the heights and down into
the valleys where coca grows. A late contract
was bid In Tor 235, $50 bOlivianas. Of which sum
Zlo,oO0 Will go to the government. leaving for
the road commissioners 800, $40 Of the country.
AT least 70 per cent OF all the coca that is raised
In BOLIVIA Is brought to La Paz under these
contracts, the remainder being sold by middle
men 10 the residents OF adjacent villages on the
great Andean plateau. The manner of tax COL
iecting In fungas is q fair sample of the mode
throughout the country. Tanacachi, a village
near the western terminus Of the valley lies In
a narrow canyon between impossible noun
tains, through which there is but one road.
All the streets of the town arcept hat ora