February 13, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



83 



and Cavanilles, had only seen cultivated specimens. The 

 specimens gathered by Mathews in the ravine of Chinchao 

 might have been beyond the limits of cultivation. Those 

 from Cuchero, collected by Poeppig, were said to be wild, 

 although the traveler himself was not convinced of this. ' It 

 is by no means improbable,' he says, ' that the seeds may 

 have been dropped by birds.' Andr^ speaks of Coca in the 

 valley of the river Cauca, in New Granada, as ' in abundance 

 wild or half wild.' On the other hand, Triana, a reliable au- 

 thority on such matters, does not admit that the species is wild 

 in New Granada. At present we have the Coca cultivated to 

 a very large extent on the Andes in the Argentine Republic, 

 of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and the United States of Colombia 

 (New Granada). It is also cultivated in the mountainous parts 

 of Brazil, and there are specimens in the Kew Herbarium col- 

 lected from the head waters of the Rio Negro by Spruce, in 

 1854. The largest plantations, called locally Cocals, are said to 

 be in the province of La Paz, in Bolivia. Weddell estimates 

 in a good harvest the produce of Coca leaves per acre at 

 about 900 pounds. The total production of Coca is something 

 like 40,000,000 pounds, worth at is. per pound a value of 

 ^2,000,000. Almost the whole of the production is consumed 

 in South America. 



" In the Andes the Coca plant succeeds best in the mild, but 

 very moist, climate of the lower mountains, on elevations be- 

 tween 2,000 and 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 

 thermometer at this elevation does not often fall below 60° 

 Fahrenheit, and the climate is free from any great or sudden 

 changes. It appears that Coca, like Coffee, succeeds best on 

 mountain slopes, where the soil has perfect drainage. Swampy 

 land is very unsuitable, and so, also, according to Poeppig, is 

 land strongly impregnated with lime. From the experience 

 gained in cultivating Coca in other parts of the world, it 

 appears that the plant thrives in warmer localities than were 

 at first supposed suitable for it. In many tropical countries it 

 will grow at sea level, provided there is sufficient moisture in 

 the air and the rains are pretty evenly distributed through the 

 year. It will not thrive at the higher elevations at which 

 Coffee grows in either the East or West Indies. An elevation 

 midway between those mentioned above will probably prove 

 most suitable, regard being had to the fact that the lowest 

 minimum temperature does not fall below 65° Fahrenheit. 

 Shade is said to be unfavorable to the development of the 

 alkaloids in the leaves. Dr. Rushby has made repeated 

 analyses of shade-grown and sun-grown leaves, with the re- 

 sult that the latter were invariably found much richer in total 

 alkaloids. Plants appear to be generally raised from seed, and 

 when eight or ten inches high they are put out in their per- 

 manent places during the rainy season. The care or cultiva- 

 tion suitable to Tea or Coffee plants would appear to be also 

 those necessary to the cultivation of the Coca plant. The 

 crop is a leaf crop similar to Tea, and there would appear to 

 be nothing special in the requirements of the plant, which is 

 found to be hardy and easily managed. 



" In Peru the plants begin to yield the first crop of leaves in 

 three years after planting, but in poor soils the plants are 

 often left until the fifth year. The full-grown shrub yields a 

 harvest every thirteen or fourteen months; but as the ripeness 

 of the leaves, which is proved by their breaking when taken 

 in the hand and bent, depends very much upon the soil and 

 situation and the age of the plants, in many large plantations 

 the collection goes on throughout the year. In some favora- 

 ble localities two or three good crops are gathered in the year. 

 " In Tea the very young leaves only are gathered. In Coca, 

 on the contrary, the largest and most matured leaves are 

 sought, as these contain most of the alkaloids which render 

 the Coca leaves a marketable product. After being gathered, 

 the leaves in South America are usually dried in the sun on 

 platforms. They are then heaped up to undergo a slight 

 amount of sweating, and are then ready for use. 



" Now that Coca is being cultivated experimentally in other 

 countries than South America, it is important to bear in mind 

 that the standard of best Coca leaves is likely to change. 

 To a manufacturing chemist the best quality would mean 

 simply the quality that would yield the largest percentage of 

 crystallizable Cocaine, obtainable in the easiest manner, while 

 the same Coca might be considered for domestic consumption 

 (amongst the natives of South America) one of the lower 

 grades. It is highly probable that the amount of Cocaine 

 forms no element in the Indian's estimate of the quality of 

 Coca any more than the percentage of nicotine establishes the 

 quality of a particular grade of tobacco. Coca leaves are 

 classed by the Indians as Najas dulces (sweet leaves), and 

 Najas amargas (bitter leaves). The former are made sweet 

 by the abundance of alkaloids other than Cocaine, while in the 



latter the bitter flavor of Cocaine is the predominant one. 

 "Since the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of cocaine 

 the demand for Coca leaves in South America has considera- 

 bly increased for export purposes. A distinct loss in the 

 alkaloids generally, as well as in cocaine, has been noticed 

 during the transit of leaves to this country, and latterly, in 

 consequence, it has become the practice to extract the alka- 

 loids from the leaves in South America and export to the 

 United States and Europe a crude preparation which is largely 

 taken up by the manufacturers of cocaine. The demand for 

 Coca leaves has therefore fallen off, and it is probable that the 

 cultivation of the Coca plant in our tropical colonies may 

 never assume large proportions. Small and exceptionally fine 

 samples of Coca leaves may find a limited market in this 

 country and on the Continent ; and possibly in India and east- 

 ern countries it may be worth while to grow sufficient leaves 

 to meet the local demand for cocaine. Beyond this it is 

 scarcely possible to go, if it is borne in mind that South 

 America is able, without further extension of cultivation, to 

 produce such enormous quantities of Coca leaves that the 

 one-eightieth part would be sufficient to swamp the cocaine 

 markets of the whole world. In a letter dated January 2Sth, 

 1888, Messrs. Burgoyne, Burbidg, Cyrian and Farries reported 

 that the commercial value of ' Coca leaves yielding total 

 alkaloids of .80 per cent, would be about 6d. to Zd. per 

 pound. At present it is difficult, they say, to get a true valua- 

 tion on account of absence of demand. . . . The average price 

 last year (1887) was about id. per pound, taken all around.' 

 In a letter dated the 9th of November, 1888, Messrs. Bur- 

 goyne state, ' Very few parcels of Coca leaves now come before 

 us of the market, as the manufacturers of cocaine either deal 

 directly with the shippers of the leaves or buy the crude extract 

 for manufacturing purposes. The demand for the alkaloid 

 increases, and the price of the leaves varies from lod. to \s. 6d. 

 per pound. In the absence of statistics of stock here we 

 cannot say what the probable future of the article is with 

 regard to price.' In a further letter dated the sth of Decem- 

 ber, 1888, Messrs. Burgoyne kindly forwarded the following 

 interesting information respecting Coca leaves in the United 

 States : ' We have just heard from New York that the stock of 

 Coca leaves in that city consists of io,ooo poimds of Huanuco 

 leaves and 40,000 pounds of Truxillio leaves. These were all 

 imported this year and are good green leaves. The Huanuco 

 leaves are the kind used for making cocaine, but since the 

 large quantities of the crude cocaine arrived from Lima on the 

 European markets there has not been such an active inquiry, 

 and the price has declined to twenty-two cents (eleven pence) 

 per pound. It is a well known fact that they cannot be im- 

 ported under twenty-six cents (thirteen pence) per pound, and 

 when the small stock of 10,000 pounds is gone, higher rates 

 will no doubt be obtained for Huanuco leaves. The Truxillio 

 leaves, on the other hand, are only used in pharmacy and for 

 Coca wine. They are as strong as the other kind in alkaloid, 

 but the product will not crystallize. The stock in hand, viz., 

 40,000 pounds, is a large one, and the price may probably go 

 down to fifteen cents (seven pence half-penny).' " 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



Botanical Magazine, January : 



Brownea macrophylla, ^.7033; a New Grenada tree of the 

 LegumitioscB, only known in flower through a specimen which 

 has grown under glass in the late Mr. Crawford's garden near 

 Cork. The splendid heads of scarlet flowers are ten inches 

 across, but they are produced directly from the main trunk 

 near the ground, and are of comparatively short duration, 

 characteristics which must somewhat lessen the value of this 

 tree as an ornamental plant. 



Olearia insignis, t. 7034; a representative of a genus which, 

 in New Zealand and in some parts of Australia, replaces the 

 Asters of the northern hemisphere. Olearia insignis is a low, 

 stout shrub, with handsome, white flowers, occupying rocky 

 river banks in the northern part of the Middle Island of New 

 Zealand. 



Rosa incarnata, t. 7035; a native of widely separated dis- 

 tricts of France, belonging to the group of R. Gallica, of 

 which it has been often considered a form. It is, neverthe- 

 less, incredible, as Sir Joseph Hooker points out, " that a plant 

 growing wild in several parts of France, and which was recog- 

 nized in English gardens 248 years ago, and named and de- 

 scribed in a standard work 117 years ago, should have, as it 

 were, passed entirely out of the knowledge of horticulturists 

 and botanists till the latter half of the present century." Yet 

 this is the history of this very handsome Rose, with large and 

 brilliant flowers. 



