THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST. 



211 



firmer leaves of the Ostheim were free 

 from rust, and the trees now promise 

 a heavy ci'op of fruit. 



My experience and observation fully 

 sustain Downing's estimate of the 

 fruit, viz. : Fruit large, roundish- 

 oblate. Skin red, dark liver-color at 

 maturity. Stalk long. Flesh, liver- 

 colored, tender, juicy, almost sweet 

 sub-acid. 



It may be well to say that a num- 

 ber of varieties of the Griotte race 

 have the name of Ostheim in various 

 parts of Europe. 



We have Ostheimer, Cerise d'Os- 

 theim, Ostheim Weichsel and Griotte 

 d'Ostheim imported from Euro]>e. 

 These all seem identical, as does also 

 the variety introduced by settlers from 

 the Old Country into Kansas and Mis- 

 souri under the name of Ostheim. — 

 Rural NeLO-Yorker. 



COCA— WHAT IS COCAINE? 



The discovery that Cocaine will pro- 

 duce local anaesthesia, or insensibility 

 to pain, is next in importance to the 

 discovery of the properties of ether. 

 Cocaine has of late been used in impor- 

 tant o[)ftrations on the eye ; this, and 

 especially its recent employment to 

 allay the pain in the terrible disease 

 under which General Grant has suffered 

 so long, have given it unusual proini- 

 nonce. 



The earliest European travellers in 

 Peru, mention the use, by the natives, 

 of a leaf, which they chewed to produce 

 a stimulating effect, similar to that of 

 opium, The leaves, known as Coca, are 

 from a shrub which bears the same 

 native name, and is cultivated in 

 Huanuco, and other mountainous 

 provinces in the Peruvian Andes, which 

 have an altitude of two to ftve thousand 

 feet above the sea. The shrub reaches 

 the height of six or ei2;ht feet, and has 

 very thick, evergreen leaves. The 

 name of the genus is Erythroxylon, 



which means i-ed-wood ; sevei-al of the- 

 species, natives of tropical countries,, 

 having wood of a red color. The 

 specitic name of the Peruvian species, 

 is that given to it by the natives, hence 

 its scientilic name is Eri/tliroxi/Uyu coca. 

 In its relationship the shrub is nearest 

 to the flax and the geranium families. 

 The shrub is cultivated in a rude 

 manner by the natives, who raise the 

 young plants from the seeds, to form 

 ])lantations known as Cocals. In from 

 three to five years from planting, the 

 shrubs afford a gathering of leaves, . 

 and after that a picking is made 

 annually. The leaves are mature when 

 they break on being bent. They are 

 dried on platfoi-ms. or on a portion of 

 ground made smooth by stami)ing. Tlie 

 leaves when diy, are packed in bales 

 of about eighty pounds, which are 

 covered by a coarse cloth made by the 

 natives. In this form it is an impor- 

 tant article of domestic traffic in Peru, 

 and recently it has been sent to this 

 country and to Europe in considerable 

 quantities. The wholesale value of the 

 leaves is fi'om one dollar, to one dollar 

 and fffty cents ])cr pound. In Peru, 

 the use of Coca is very general., 

 especially among the natives. Tile 

 leaves, mixed with lime, are chewed 

 and the saliva swallowed, the individual 

 nnnaining quiet the while. 



The effects of Coca are said to be 

 most pleasurably intoxicating, and those 

 who become addicted to its use, rarely 

 abandon it. It is claimed that by the 

 use of Coca, the Peruvians can perform , 

 a great amount of labour in the mines, . 

 and as porters in carrying loads, \iitoii 

 very little food. The active principle 

 Cocaine (not " Cocoaine," as sometimes 

 incorrectly written), has been separated. 

 The process is expensive and the product 

 small, hence the price has been very 

 high, the salt of Cocaine having been 

 sold at over a dollar a grain. — American 

 Agriculturist. 



