LANCEWOOD SPARS. 



Joseph Sturge, Esq., Birmingham, Montserrat Company, Limited, to Director Public Gardens and 



Plantations, Jamaica. 



Dear Sir, 



I append copy of my friend's notes on the growth of Lancewood in Cuba. Probably you can find out 

 more about this tree in Trelawny and those parts of Jamaica where it grows. Our trees in Montsorrat 

 which our gardener fetched from the neighbourhood of Old Harbour, in Jamaica, grow very slowly 

 and have not flowered yet. I fancy it will only do well on a limestone sub- soil. 



Yours truly, 



Joseih Sturge. 



[ENCLOSURE.] 



"Lancewood spars are called here " Palas de yaya" or " Valos de yaya," and they are shipped in 

 large quantities to Europe, occasionally also to Jamaica from which Island they are presumably re- 

 shipped. The trees grow on low moist ground near Manzanilla, not in a swamp and not ou the hills, 

 but in such a situation that in rainy weather it is impossible to get them down to the shore on account 

 of the softness of the coast. The climate of Manzanilla is warm and moist nure so than on the north- 

 ern coast, and the immediate neighbourhood is not so hilly as that of Baracoa, in fact it is almost flat. 

 As to the age at which the spars are cut no trustworthy information was given me. One said one thing 

 and one another with a great deal of certainty until I elicited that the trees grow quite wild, that they 

 are not planted or looked after in any way, and then I said that I supposed the fact was that the trees 

 were cut whenever they attained a suitable size. This they allowed was exactly what happened, so 

 they know no more about the age of the spars than I do. However, it appears that the length of spars 

 is about 5 varas (13 feet 9 in.) and they are usually cut from 14 to 24 inches in circumference. The 

 thicker they are the more valuable of course because from the thickest four or five shafts can be made. 

 The tree according to my informants bears no nut nor any other fruit that they have seen, and in 

 reply to my question as to the time of cutting I was gravely informed that it depended entirely upon 

 the Moon. 



Mr. Sturge writes subsequently as follows : — 



" If any one in Jamaica has taken up the systematic cultivation of lancewood, I should be much 

 obliged by your putting me in communication with them, as that is a culture in which I feel much 

 interest." 



COCA. 



( Erythroxylon Coca.) 



Coca is cultivated on the mountain slopes of the Andes from an elevation of 2,000 feet up to 7,000 

 feet. It is said that soil with much lime in unsuitable. 



J~" " In Jamaica, Coca has been grown successfully at nearly sea-level at Spring Garden by the Hon. 

 W. B. Espeut, the leaves yielding, according to the Kew Bulletin for January, 1889, analysis of 0.76 

 per cent of total cocaine, — a very high percentage, and remarkable, considering that the plants were 

 only 6 months old, when the leaves were gathered. There has been no success at present in growing 

 the plants at Cinchona at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and possibly the night temperature is too low, as 

 it f falls sometimes to 53° F. At Castleton (600 feet), and in the Parade Garden, Kingston (about sea- 

 level), Coca has been grown for some years, but the Castleton leaves have not as high a percentage 

 (0.65), as those from Spring Garden. 



The oldest leaves, those which break, when bent in the fingers, contain the most cocaine, and it is 

 well to allow the young leaves to remain to supply the wants of the plant. 



The leaves give the best results when dried in the shade. They are gathered at all times of the 

 year, or only once a year according to soil and situation. 



'•' Since the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of cocaine the demand for Coca leaves in South 

 America has considerably 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 alkaloids from the leaves in South America and 

 export to the United States and Europe a crude preparation which is largely taken up by manufacturer 

 of cocaine. This crude alkaloid contains 70 per cent, of pure crystallisable cocaine, and is selling fo 

 about 15s. per ounce. 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 or on the Conti- 

 nent ; and possibly in India and Eastern countries it may be worth while to grow sufficient leaves to 

 meet the lccal 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 quanti- 

 ties 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 25th 1889, Messrs. Burgoyne, Burbidges, Cyriax, and Farriers 

 reported that the commercial value of "Coca leaves yielding total alkaloids of 80 per cent, would be 

 about 6d. to 8d. per pound." (Kew Bulletin). 



The following account is given in the Therapeutic Gazette (Detroit) by Dr. H. H. Rusby, who 

 ytaa for some time engaged in the study of Coca in Bolivia. 



