September, 1910.] 



203 



DRUGS AND MEDIOINAL PLANTS. 



JAVA COCA AND COCAINE. 



(From the Chemist and Druggist, Vol. 

 LXXVII., No. 1588, July, 1910.) 

 Important developments in the pro- 

 duction of coca in Java are foreshadow- 

 ed in an article, contributed by Dr. de 

 Jong to the last number of "Teysmannia" 

 (1910, p. 201). The author poin ts out that 

 the exports of this product from Java 

 amounted to 376,481 kilos, for the eleven 

 months ending November, 1908, and to 

 343,470 kilos, for the corresponding period 

 of 1909. In December, 1908, the price in 

 Amsterdam ranged, from 21 '5c. per half- 

 kilo, for leaves containing TO to Tl per 

 cent, of total alkaloids to 61c. per half- 

 kilo for leaves containing 2"2 to 2 3 per 

 cent. The corresponding prices for the 

 same grades in December, 1909, were 40c. 

 and 60'5c. respectively, these prices 

 being nearly double those obtained in 

 January, 1908. This rise in price is ascrib- 

 ed to the action of a prominent cocaine 

 factory in Europe in abandoning the 

 use of crude Peruvian cocaine in favour 

 of Java leaves as a raw material. Java 

 coca planters are recommended to com- 

 bine, gradually extend their coca planta- 

 tions, and take steps to secure the whole 

 of the market for coca leaves and co- 

 caine. Dr. de Jong estimates the world's 

 consumption of cocaine at 12,000 kilos. 

 In Java about 500 kilos, of dry leaf yield- 



ing 1*5 percent, of alkaloid are obtained 

 per bouw, from which about 7"6 kilos, 

 of alkaloid, equivalent to 6 kilos, of pure 

 cocaine could be made. It is argued, 

 therefore, that the present plantations 

 could be extended to about 2,000 bouws 

 without overtaking the world's con- 

 sumption of the leaves. The most econ- 

 omical plan, however, is to grow coca 

 as a catch crop with Para rubber, thus 

 securing a return for the first five or six 

 years during which the rubber trees 

 are maturing to a tappable condition. 

 Worked in this way a Rubber plantation 

 can be made to give a handsome return 

 even in the early stages. Dr. de Jong has 

 been in negotiation with a German firm 

 of cocaine manufacturers on the question 

 of extracting the alkaloid in Java. This 

 firm consider that local extractions 

 would mean a saving of from m. 10 to 

 m. 20 per 100 kilos, of leaves worked, and 

 they offer to erect plant in Java if a 

 syndicate of planters will share the cost 

 of this enterprise and the risks. The 

 crude cocaine made would be exported 

 to the European factory, which would 

 be paid a fixed rate for refining it. The 

 refined cocaine would be marketed in the 

 ordinary way, and the price obtained 

 credited to the proposed ''Java Extrac- 

 tion Co.," consisting of the whole of the 

 Java coca planters and the shareholders 

 of the European cocaine factory. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



TEA IN JAMAICA. 



By the Hon. H. E. Cox, 

 Custos of St, Ann. 



(From the Bulletin of the Department of 

 Agriculture of Jamaica Vol. 1, 

 No. 3, 1910.) 

 In bringing before you the subject of 

 tea culture in this island, I will deal 

 firstly with its history ; secondly, the 

 conditions under which it has taken 

 place ; thirdly, the mode of culture 

 followed ; and lastly, the preparation of 

 the leaf for use. Tea is essentially a 

 factory crop ; by overproduction in the 

 past the market prices have been forced 

 down to such a low level that only by 

 the use of the best machinery, and the 

 utmost economy in management (for 

 which a large area under cultivation is 

 necessary), can the cost of production 

 be recovered. But it is a safe crop for a 



settler who lives within range of an 

 existing factory, for he can always have 

 there a steady market tor the leaf 

 grown on his holding. 



History op Tea Culture at Jamaica. 



The pedigree of the tea plant is a long 

 one. The origin of its use as a beverage 

 is lost in the mists of Chinese antiquity. 

 Until the year 1833 it was not known to 

 exist outside China, but in that year a 

 variety far more robust than the Chinese 

 kind was discovered in Assam, and 

 became the parent of the Indian, and 

 later of the Ceylon teas. 



In Jamaica, the history of the tea 

 plant dates only from 1868. Indian and 

 Chinese varieties were then imported 

 for the Government Gardens at Cin- 

 chona. In 1887, a cultivation of a few 

 acres was made on the Blue Mountains 

 but was not continued, and no further 

 attempt was made to grow it on a 



