Tune i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
783 
of Peru afterwards permitted the cultivation with 
voluntary labour, on condition that the labourers 
were paid and that care was takeu of their health. 
Descent to the Coca Plantations. — ^oca lug always 
been one of the most valuable articles of commerce 
in Peru, and it is used by about 8,000,000 of the human 
race. The pla*> t {Erythoxylon Coca) is cultivated between 
2.000 and 6,00(1 feet above the level of the sea, in 
the warm valleys of the eastern slopes of the Andes, 
where it rains more or less every month in the year, 
The descent from the bleak and lofty plains of the 
Andes to the vallers where the coca grows, presents 
the most lovely scenery to be found anywhere. 
For the first thousand feet of the descent the vege- 
tation continues to be of a lowly alpine character; 
but as the descent is continued the scenery increases 
in magnificence. The polished surfaces of perpendi- 
cular cliffs glitter here and there with foaming 
torrents, some like thin lines of thread, others broader 
and breaking over rocks, others seeming to burst 
out of the fleecy clouds, while jagged black peaks, 
glittering with streaks of snow, pierce the mists 
which conceal their bases. Next the terraced gardens 
are reached, constructed up the sides of the moun- 
tains, the upper tiers from 6 feet to 8 feet wide, 
and supported by masonry walls, thickly clothed with 
celsias, begonias, caloeolarias, and a profusion of 
ferns. These terraces or andevecia are often upwards 
of a hundred in number, rising one above the other. 
Below them the stream becomes a roaring torrent, 
dashing over the huge rocks, with vast masses of da'k 
frowning mountains on either side, ending in fan- 
tastically-shaped peaks, some of them veiled by thin, 
fleecy clouds. The vegetation rapidly increases in 
luxuriance with the descent. The river, rushing down 
the valley, winds along the small breadth of level 
land, striking first against the precipitous cliffs on 
one side, and then sweeping over to the other. The 
scenery continu s to increase in beauty, and the 
cascades pour down in every direction, some iu a 
white sheet of continuous foam for hundreds of feet, 
finally seeming to plunge into beds of ferns and 
flowers ; some like driven spray, and occasionally a 
waterfall may be seen high up, between two peaks, 
which seems to drop into the clouds below. Next 
bamboos and tree ferns begin to appear and we at 
length reach the region where coca is cultivated in 
terraces, often fringed with coffee plants. In many 
places these terraces are fifty deep, up the sides of 
the mountains; the rock is a metamorphic slate, 
slightly micaceous and ferruginous, with quartz occur- 
ing here and there; the soil is a soft brown loam. 
The trees and shrubs in the coca region are very 
luxuriant; there are beautiful melastomacece with a 
large purple flower, cinchona plants of the shrub 
variety, gaultherias, and an immense variety of ferns 
Coca Cultivation. — The coca plant i3 a shrub from 
4 to 6 feet high, with lichens usually growing on the 
older trunks. The branches are straight and alter- 
nate; the leaves a'ternate and entire, in form and 
size like tea leaves; flowers solitary, with a small 
yellowish-white corolla in five petals. Sowing is 
commenced in December and January when the rains 
be .in, which continue until April. The seeds are 
spreal on the surface of the soil in a small nursery 
cr raising grou<d, over which there is gcnenlly a 
thatched roof. The following year the young plants 
are removed to a soil sp cially prepared by careful 
weeding and breaking up the clods very fine by hand. 
The soil is oft n in tei races only affording room for 
a dingle row of plant-", which are kept up In sus- 
taining walls. The plants are generally p'aced in 
square hobs a foH deep, with Btonea on the sides 
to rrev nt the earth from falling in Thr e o- four 
are planted in each hole and grow tog ther. In 
Southern Peru an) Bolivia the soil in which the 
coca plants grow is composed of a blackish clay, 
formed from the decomposition of the schists which 
form the priii ipal geological feature of the Eastern 
An les. When the plantation is on level ground the 
p'unti are placed in furrows peparati d bV little trails 
of earth, at the foot of each of which a row of 
plants is placed. But this is a modern innovation, 
the terrace cultivation being the most ancient. At 
the end of 18 months the plants yield their first 
harvest; they continue to yield for upwards of 40 
year*. The first harvest is called " rjuita cal^on " and 
the I eaves are picked with ext. erne care, to avoid 
disturbing the roots of the young tender plants The 
following harvest are called "witta" (' time" or 
"season') and take place three times or even four 
times a year. The most abundant harvest is in 
March, immediately after the rains. The worst is 
at the end of June. With plenty of watering four 
days suffice to cover the plants with leaves afresh 
It is necessary to weed the ground very carefully" 
especially while the plants are young. The green 
leaves, when harvested, are deposited in a piece of 
cloth which each picker (woman or child) carries 
and are then spread out in very thin layers a- d care-' 
fully dried in the sun in yards paved with slate 
flags The gresn leaf is called matn, a-.d the dried 
leaf becomes coca. The thoroughly dry haves are 
sewn up in 20 lb. aestos or sacks made of banana 
^„ u . ^^puK, «. merman traveller, some 60 
years ago reskoned the profits of a coca farm to be 
45 per cent. The harvest is largest in a hot moist 
situation; but the leaf which is generally considered 
the best flavoured by consumers, grows in drier parts 
on the mountain sides: The very greatest care s 
required in drying • for it packed up moist the leaven 
become fetid while too much sun causes them to 
shrivel and lose flavour. 
Coca Trade.-The internal trade in coca hag been 
considerable, ever since the conquest of Peru, three- 
and-a-half cen lines a»o. Acosta says that in his 
ime, at Potosi it wa, worth So -0.000 annually, and 
that in 1583' the Indians consumed 100.000 cestos of 
coca, worth S2J each in Cuzco, and 84 in Potosi 
S'SlwVw in th? P'ru S*> ^ calculated 
at ^l,iU(,H.w in tne .Peruvian Vice ovaltv and »t 
82,641 487 including that of Buenos Avres In I860 
the approximate annual produce of coca' in Pern 
was about 15,000.000 lb. the average yield being abou" 
800 lb. an acre. Mors than 10,000,000 lb. we reannu- 
ally produced m Bolivia At that time the tambor or 
drum of oO lb was worth 89 to 812, the fluctuations 
in price being caused by the perishable nature of 
the article The average duration of coca in a sound 
s ate, on the coast of Peru, is about five morX 
after which time .t is said to lose its flavour, and 
is rejected by consumers as worthless. 
Use of Coca-No native of Peru is without his chmva 
or coca bag made of llama cloth, which he carr/es 
ov r one shoulder, suspended at his side. In taW 
coca he. sits clown, puts his chmpa before him and 
places, the leaves in his month one by o,.e, chewln- 
them, and turning hem with his tongue until Ee 
form, a ball He then applies a small quantity of 
carbonate of potash prepared by burning the stalk 
of the quinna plant and mixing" the Lshes with lime 
and water ; he thus forms cakes called UipTa, wh ch 
are dried for use and also kept in the chuLa or b « 
sometimes :n a small silver receptacle. With this 
here is a so a small pointed instrument with which 
he Ihpta is scratched, and the powder is applied to 
the pellet o coca leaves In some provinces*^ "mill 
calabash ful of lime is kept in their chwnas called 
i Kwmn «. The operation of chewing is usually pe rfo r 
med three times during the day^ work, and every 
Indian consumes 2 or 3 oz. of "coca daily. In the 
mines of the cold region of the Andes the Indians 
d.rivergreat enjoyment from the use of coca The 
chasque or messenger, in his long journeys ov r the 
mountains and deserts and the shepherd wa lb ng 
his flock on the lofty plains, has no other flourish* 
ment than his afforded by Ins chwsoa 0 f c , , rls r 
or frozen potato, and a We Sod maize''' The 
eats of Indian couriers, sua aihed by coca leaf and 
a b tie parched muz,. ,„••• marvellous. [, j s ,„„ , 
ically recorded that an Indian ha, tak n me' sago ' 
from La Paz to Tacna, a distance of 24') miles wiSh 
a pass. 1,300 feet above the sea to go n ! d , om ' 
down, iu four day., thus accomplishing 60 m le? a 
Jay. Heated one day and aifht at^cna. and 
