8 



"The following year the shrubs, whose height is already from 40 to 50 centimetres (16 to 20 inches) 



are transplanted into a plot of ground specially prepared for them and called a cocal. The arrangement 

 of these plantations is much more complicated than that of an ordinary plantation, and varies according 

 to the inclination of the surface. When the cocal occupies the slope of a mountain, which is the usual 

 oase, the cultivator forms a series of narrow steps, each intended for a single row of shrubs, and the more 

 elevated (consequently, the less numerous) as the surface is more steep. They are generally supported 

 by little stone walls, which serve not merely to contain the earth and prevent its drying, but also to pro- 

 tect the stem and roots of the young shrubs from the too direct influence of the solar rays, by means of 

 the projection which they form above the level of the soil. 



u Where the ground, is level, they make, instead of steps or terraces, simple furrows ( uachos ) in 

 a straight line, and separated from one another by little walls of well-moulded earth, called umachas, 

 at the foot of each of which is planted a row of the shurbs, more or less far apart from each other. 



"At the end of a year and a half the plant affords its first crop, and from this period to the age 

 of forty years or more it continues to yield a supply. Instances are cited of Coca plantations which 

 have existed for nearly a century, and which still produce. Nevertheless, the greatest ahundance of 

 leaves is obtained from plants of from three to six years of age. When the trees run up too much, the 

 produce is less than when they spread ; they are therefore pruned in some cases to favour an increase 

 in breadth, which, however, is never considerable, as the form of the shrub is irregular. The average 

 height of the wild plant appears to be about 2 metres, but in cultivation it is generally allowed to attain but 

 1 metre (39 inches). 



" The first gathering which takes place in a Coca Plantation is at the expense of only the lower leaves 

 of the shrubs, and it is therefore called quita calzon.* The leaves of which this gathering consists are 

 larger, and more coriaceuos than those of subsequent collections, and also have less flavour. They are 

 mostly consumed on the spot. All the other gatherings go by the name of mitas, and take place three 

 times, or exceptionally, four times, per annum. The most abundant harvest is that occurring in March, 

 that is, immediately after the rains ; this is the mita de marzo. The most scanty is that which takes 

 place at the end of June, or beginning of July, and which is called mita de San Juan. The third, 

 named mita de Santos, is made in October or November. 



" The watering of the Coca plantations greatly increases their productiveness. Forty days are then 

 sufficient, I have been told, for naked shrubs to become covered with new leaves ; but these leaves are 

 not equal in their properties to those produced without irrigation ; their colour is also less deep, and they 

 frequently blacken in drying. Artificial watering is needful, moreover, only during the dry season, and 

 the cultivators who have the means of employing it, realise nearly always four, and sometimes even five, 

 crops in the year. This is particularly the case in the districts of Irupana, where there are facilities for 

 obtaining water that do not exist elsewhere. 



" I have examined the soil in which Coca is cultivated, and almost everywhere have found it com- 

 posed of sandy, argillaceous earth, softish to the touch ; it originates in the decay of the schists which 

 form the chief geological feature of these mountains. The soil of the Coca plantation is, in one word, 

 formed of what we call primitive or normal earth, but is naturally mixed with an abundance of angular 

 fragments of unaltered schist, which, if not removed, would interfere with the growth of the roots. 

 This is therefore done by the cultivators while preparing the furrows for the reception of the shrubs, the 

 stones being employed for the little walls before spoken of ; indeed these little walls, or umachas, are 

 often formed entirely of the stones thus met with. I need hardly say that it is to the greater or less 

 perfection to which this preliminary operation is carried, and to the labours incurred subsequently in 

 stirring up the soil from time to time, and in keeping it free from weeds, that the haciendero owes the 

 abundance of his crops. The last operation I have mentioned is especially needful while the shrubs are 

 young, the weeding, which is regularly performed after each crop has been collected, is called mazi. 



" The collection of the leaves of the Erythroxylon is performed much in the same way as that of tea. 

 It is, in general, women and children that are employed upon this operation, which is all the easier from 

 the pressure of the little walls separating the furrows of the plantation. The gatherer squats down, and 

 holding with one hand the branch she wishes to pluck, removes with the other the leaves, often one 

 by one. The leaves are deposited in a cloth, which each Indian carries with her, and afterwards col- 

 lected in sacks or some other recipients to be carried to the plantation. 



" Nothing is now easier than the preparation of the Coca. The leaves are carried from the planta- 

 tion to the house, or casa de hacienda, where they are spread out in the sun, in little courts constructed 

 especially for the purpose, and the floors of which are formed of slabs of black schist ( pizara ) ; if the 

 weather is fine, they are left there until completely dry, which takes place without their shape becoming 

 altered. They are then packed with strong pressure into bags made of the sheath of the banana leaf, 

 strengthened with an outer covering of coarse woollen canvas. The bales thus formed contain, on an 

 average, twenty-four pounds of leaves and go by the name of cestos. The tambor is a bale of double the 

 size of the cesto, whose price at La Paz varies from 4£ to 6 piastres, 18s. to 24s. t 



" The leaves of the Enjthroxylon approach in shape and size those of tea, but they have never the 

 dentated margin ; on the under side, a prominent and curved line on each side of the mid-rib serves to 

 distinguish them from most other leaves known. When dried well, they are of a very pale green, deeper 

 on the upper than on the under side ; their odour is then agreeable, and even analogous to that of tea. . . . 

 This bouquet, if I may so term it, is very perceptible on tasting the Coca, and serves, according to its 

 abundance, in indicating its quality. On the other hand, in a concentrated infusion, and still more so 

 in a decoction, it is a bitterness mixed with something styptic that more particularly strikes the palate." 



* From quitar, to take away, and calzon, pantaloon. 



j- As it is easily damaged by damp in transit, the only absolute security is to have it soldered in tin or zinc, enclosed 

 wood, such packages generally contain two tambores, or about a Spanish quintal of 100 pounds. 



