188 
The  Cultivation  of  Com. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X      April,  1886. 
THE  CULTIVATION  OF  COCA. 
By  Henry  H.  Busby,  M.  D. 
For  more  than  two  months  the  writer  has  been  continuously  en- 
gaged in  the  study  of  the  coca-plant  and  its  products  in  the  districts 
of  Bolivia  which  produce  the  best  quality  of  leaves.  The  results, 
which  are  likely  to  greatly  increase  the  recently-created  interest  in 
the  plant,  will  be  published  shortly,  when  his  studies  shall  have  been 
concluded.  At  the  present  time  I  will  only  discuss  a  question  con- 
cerning which  speculation  is  rife,  namely,  the  adaptability  of  the 
plant  to  culture  in  countries  where  it  is  now  unknown. 
For  the  details  concerning  cultivation  here  presented  I  am  chiefly 
indebted  to  Mr.  Oscar  Lohse,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  cultivators 
in  this  country,  and  proprietor  of  the  Finca  of  San  Antonio,  two 
leagues  from  the  town  of  Caroica,  Yungas. 
The  district  of  Caroica  may  be  considered  as  fitly  representing  the 
remainder  of  Yungas,  and  Yungas  as  representing  the  principal  coca 
districts  of  this  republic.  The  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  may  be 
briefly  stated.  Proceeding  eastward  from  La  Paz,  itself  somewhat 
more  than  10,000  feet1  above  the  sea,  for  a  distance  of  four  or  five 
leagues,  we  reach  the  summit  of  the  pass  over  the  easternmost  Cordil- 
lera of  the  Andes,  this  cordillera  having  an  average  elevation  in  this 
immediate  district  of  perhaps  16,000  feet.  This  ridge,  always  more 
or  less  snow-covered,  cuts  off  a  large  portion  of  the  westward-bound 
clouds,  which  are  thus  either  precipitated  in  the  form  of  rain  before 
reaching  the  summit,  or,  arriving  there,  are  deposited  in  the  form  of 
snow,  and  then  returned  by  means  of  rivulets  to  the  valleys,  chiefly 
of  the  eastern  slope.  It  should  be  noted  that  in  Northern  Peru  and 
Ecuador  this  cordillera  is  higher  than  here,  so  that  the  eastern  slope 
in  those  regions  is  more  profusely  and  regularly  watered  than  here. 
From  this  pass,  had  we  a  direct  road,  we  could  travel  in  half  a  day, 
so  steep  is  the  descent,  to  the  banks  of  the  Caroica  River,  having  an 
altitude  of  only  2,400  feet.  When  we  have  descended  to  6,400  feet 
we  should  meet  with  our  first  coca  plantations,  and  after  passing  the 
2,000-foot  level  we  should  have  left  them  principally  or  entirely 
behind.  Within  this  4,000  or  5,000  feet,  then,  lie  the  cocales  of 
Bolivia.  No  description  can  convey  a  perfect  idea  of  the  steepness  of 
this  luxuriant  slope.    Travel,  entirely  by  riding-animals,  is  extremely 
1  I  have  given  altitudes  and  measurements  approximately  in  English  feet. 
By  the  Spanish  measurements  the  altitudes  are  much  greater. 
