236 COCA-CULTIVATION. Chap. XIV. 



Poeppig reckoned the profits of a coca-farm to be forty-five 

 per cent. 



The harvest is greatest in a hot moist situation ; but the 

 leaf generally considered the best flavoured by consumers, 

 grows in drier parts, on the sides of hills. The greatest care 

 is required in the drying ; for too much sun causes the leaves 

 to dry up and lose their flavour, while, if packed up moist, 

 they become fetid. They are generally exposed to the sun 

 in tliiii layers. 



Acosta says that in his time the trade in coca at Potosi 

 was worth 500,000 dollars annually ; and that in 1583 the In- 

 dians consiuned 100,000 cestos of coca, worth 2 J dollars each 

 in Cuzco, and 4 dollars in Potosi. In 1591 '' an excise of 5 per 

 cent, was imposed on coca ; and in the years 1746 and 1750 

 tliis duty yielded 800 and 500 dollars respectively, from 

 Caravaya alone. Between 1785 and 1795 the coca traffic 

 was calculated at 1,207,430 dollars in the Peruvian viceroy- 

 alty ; and, including that of Buenos Ayres, 2,641,487 dollars. 



In the district of Sandia, in Caravaya, there are two kinds 

 of coca, that of Ypara and that of Hatun-yuuca, which has a 

 larger leaf. The yield is 45,000 cestos a year. In the yun- 

 gus of La Paz, in Bolivia, the yield is about 400,000 cestos. 

 The coca-trade is a government monopoly in Bolivia, the 

 state reserving the right of pm-chasing from the grower, and 

 reselling to the consumer. This right is generally farmed out 

 to the highest bidder. In 1850 the coca-duty yielded 200,000 

 dollars to the Bolivian revenue. 



The approximate annual produce of coca in Peru is about 

 15,000,000 Ibs.,^ the average yield being about 800 lbs. an 

 acre. More than 10,000,000 lbs. are produced annually in 

 Boli'S'ia, according to Dr. Booth of La Paz ; so that the 



^ Report of the Prince of Esquilache. 

 Poeppig calculates the yield of Huanuco at 500,000 Ihs. 



