Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-07-16
WONDER PLANT
OF THE ANDES.
Facts About Coca, an Important South
American Product.


Cocoa and coca are two words which
are very much alike, so much in fact that
they are often confused in the mind OF |
the average person, and perhaps by some |
thought to be the same thing. The pres |
ence of the 90 in the la st syllable uf |
the first word however, makes a porten- |
tous difference, for there is absolutely
no similarity between the products bear
ing these names. Cocoa, which is but
chocolate with the fat extracted, is the
well-known drink and food made from
the cacao bean the fruit of the tree
known botanically as Theohroma Cacao.
while coca Is the extract of the leaves
of the coca plant or shrub, whose techn-
cal name is Erythroxylon Coca, and from
which that powerful alkaloid known as
cocaine Is derived Both products are
indigenous 20 certain Latin American
countries, both were in common use by
the natives Of these regions for centuries
before a western world was dreamed of
in the eastern. and both were introduced
into Europe by the returning Spanish
explorers. Their place of origin is about
the only thing common to both plants
The medicinal properties of the coca
leaves are manifold That remarkable
property possessed by the alkaloid, CO.
Caine. OF producing local anaesthesia
has made the plant a boon to suffering
humanity and a wonderfully beneficent
agent in the hands of the surgeon, even
If there We're no other uses for It as a
curative. Coca, however, has many other
uses, and among the Incas Of Peru 1t
was known as the divine plant" because
Of these varied properties. In the May
issue OF the Bulletin OF the Pan-American
union. Washington. D. c., william A.
Reid deals with the history Of coca. the
wonder-plant of the Andes, and tells OF
many strange customs of the lncas in
connection with their veneration of the
coca plant, its peculiar properties and
describes the plant itself In its Wild state.
and the methods OF cultivation. He
writes:
Many years ago, when Inca civiliza-
ton reigned over n vast section OF the
western part OF South America, the young
men of the tribes engaged in athletic
contests and among the most coveted re-
wards the victor could expect, were little
pouches filled with certain dry leaves
Each pouch perchance bore the handi-
work Of some dusky maiden, marvellous
ly wrought In accordance with the teach
ings Of Mamma Ocllo, the famous charac-
| ter who tradition SAYS came forth from
mysterious Lake Titicaca to teach the
| world the art OF spinning and weaving.
| Accompanying the pouch Of leaves, or
chuspa as they called it, was a small
gourd known as the popora, containing
| lines; the leaves had been carefully
plucked from the divine plant, coca
while the lime served to make them more
pleasing to the taste. The two suhstan-
ces combined formed a strength-produc-
ling element of wonderful power, SUB
jects of the Incas who thus fortified
themselves by chewing coca leaves be-
lieved their bodies possessed superhuman
| endurance.
| THE leaves were used as offerings In
| the sun: to make the smoke at sacrlfices'
tied up in packages they were thrown IN
| to streams and the faithful followed them
for days as a demonstration or their IL
deity: and at death a supply of the leaves
was always placed with the body of the
deceased"
The original home of the coca plant Is
in parts Of Columbia Ecuador, Peru
Bolivia and Brazil, while 1t Is now culti-
waited In the West Indies, Ceylon India
Java, etc. The plant Erythrozylon Co
ca, somewhat resembles the blackthorr
bush of the United States, and gcbws
| to a height Of six or eight feet, accord
ing to altitude and climatic conditions
In southern Colombia, at an altitude OF
5000 feet, and In some other sections OF
the Andes. It occasionally measures i
feet in height, but as elevation Increases
the bush degenerates into small shrub
The branches are straigh; and the leaves
are green. thin, Opaque, oval and taper
ling at the ends The pretty little flow
ers form in clusters on short stems. The
Towering season Is followed by the pro
dltotion of small red berries, Whel
grown on the coca plantations, or Coca
les. the seeds are sown in December anC
January on small plots of land sheltered
from the sun. When the plant reaches
Ia height of two feet II Is transplantec
to larger spaces, and It becomes produc
Tive in about two years, and remains ST
for 20 years. or longer The leaves are
gathered by FUCKERS who are skilled II
their work Both hands are used anI
usually only the best leaves are gathered
These are carried to sheds and spread up
on stone beds or hard ground 70 dry ih'
drying process is completed In about j
hours and the leaves are then packed
into bales and are ready for shipment
, In pound packages the best leaves ar
worth from 81 to As cents at the seaport
In 1912 Bolivia exported $1,000" wort
of coca leaves, while Peru where cocain
itself IL manufactured, exports annual,
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