Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-10-03

Special Correspondence
La Paz, Bolivia Sept. 10..-Ever since
Cervantes wrote his charming tale of
Don Quljote de la Mancha, myrlads OF
tired lips have echoed Sancho Panza's
exclamation: God bless the man who
first invented sleep" and in later years
with how much greater fervor have
suffering souls blessed that benefactor
Of mankind who discovered the use OF
cocaine as means OF putting tortured
nerves to sleep In surgical operations
and other Ills to which flesh is heir.
Our principal object In making the
tedious trip over seven successive spurs
OF the Andean range into tropical Boz
livia, was to investigate the culture of
the plant known to science as erych-
roxylon coca. For more than a quarter
of a century Bolivia's crop OF dried coca
leaves has averaged trtle over $780,
600 pounds. OF this vast amount, fully
So per cent Is consumed at home by
the native Indians. About 80 per cent
of the remainder Is divided equally be-
tween Chill and the Argentine Republic.
Peru gets ten per cent OF it; Europe
five per cent and the United States
none at all Since alkaloid cocaine has
lately come into general use for pro-
duclng local anaesthesla the demand
for the coca leaves from which 1t Is
made has greatly increased though
without senslbly affecting the markets
of South America, Soon as the appli-
cation of cocaine to surgical uses be-
came common the British government
sent out n commission to collect the
plants and transfer them TO India, and
already the plantations OF those far
on colonies are yielding so profusely
that they furnish plenty of leaves for
the German manufacturers who supply
the world with most of the cocaine that
Is used. 1t should be remembered that
the cocoa palm, the seeds of which fur
nsh 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. Fry
chroXylon coca is not tree, but a small
shrub, growing from two to five feet
high. II hourishes best mt an altitude
between 5000 and 5000 feet above the
sea, in sheltered places where the eli
mate is warm and moist without excess
sive heat. In this country II attaIns
It's greatest perfection In the Province
OF Yungas, where the mountain ridges.
crossing In every direction, leave deep
hollows and narrow valleys between,
giving all varieties of climate with the
productions peculiar to each Not only
Is the best coca I'm the world produced
In that section, but also the bark from
which qulnine Is made, vanilla and
chocolate beans, coffee, oranges, figs,
bananas, grapes. apples, peaches, pears,
sugar-cane, wheat and barley, products
Of both tropic and temperate zones.
gathered from the cooler highlands. the
sunny hill sides and the lower villages.
TERRACED GARDENS.
The foothills OF the Andes that out
line Yungas and other Bolivian valleys
are laid out In terraces, each terrace
about a yard wide, each well supported
by wall Of stones. In which the little
coca bushes. closely resembling tea
plants, are set at regular distances The
seeds are first sown In beds, and when
the plants are n few inches high, they
are transferred TO the terraces. Each
bush yields three generous crops OF
leaves In a year. and sometimes four
where the conditions Of soil and climate
are peculiarly favorable. No fertlllz-
ers are used but great care ia taken
that no grasses or other growths are
allowed 70 spring up with the coca.
Each crop is called a mita. The first,
known as the MARIO mlta" March
crop). Is generally picked in January;
the second, or "St. Johns mita" ia
gathered In May; and the third. or
An Saints mita" In October The
harvest time, however, Is by no means
uniform, depending greatly on the
weather and the amount OF rain. The
crop Is gathered by Indian women. who
pick Il leaf BY leas, squatting upon the
ground IN front OF q bush. II is slow
work, because the tiny leaves must not
be broken or the centra, iber torn. and
II Ia believed that II the apex OF the
plant IL touched By tho picker, or II
any animal brushes against Il, nll the
leaves VIII instantly wlther.
HOW COCA Is CURED.
Following tho women come mon with
large saeks, who collect tho gathered
leaves and carry them TO the cachi,