Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
April,  1886.  J 
The  Cultivation  of  Coca. 
189 
difficult.  There  are  only  occasional  places  where  we  can  readily  leave 
the  road,  and  here  plantations  are  established.  The  hedge  of  coffee- 
plants  at  the  roadside  proves  on  examination  to  be  the  uppermost  row 
of  a  plantation;  and  as  we  peer  down  among  the  shrubs  we  marvel 
that  any  one  can  preserve  his  footing  while  cultivating  or  collecting 
the  coffee.  The  scenery  is  of  course  magnificent,  and  of  a  different 
type,  I  should  think,  from  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  world.  The 
mountains  are  too  young  to  have  lost,  to  a  great  extent,  their  ragged 
outline,  yet  softness  is  imparted  by  the  richness  of  the  vegetation. 
We  stand  among  the  coca-plants  and  distinctly  see  another  cocal 
nearly  4,000  feet  below  us. 
As  there  is  no  better  guide  to  the  agricultural  capacities  of  a  country 
than  its  native  plants,  I  will  mention  the  characteristic  classes.  At 
the  pass,  with  an  altitude  of  about  13,000  feet,  we  have  but  little 
vegetation, — this  low  and  mat-like,  to  escape  the  cold  and  the  winds. 
Crossing,  soon  after,  a  spur  having  an  elevation  of  1,000  or  2,000 
feet  less,  we  meet  with  several  Gentianacese,  notably  a  Halenia,  be- 
lieved to  be  H.  Rothrockii,  Gray,  of  ~New  Mexico.  Here,  also,  are 
some  shrubs  in  Acanthacese  and  Bignoniacese.  At  9,000  feet  we 
begin  to  find  Orchids  and  Calceolarias,  with  some  small  trees  in 
Melastornaceae.  At  8,000  feet  we  meet  with  our  first  tree-ferns ;  the 
timber-trees  become  quite  large,  and  Begonias  begin  to  make  their 
appearance.  From  this  point  the  vegetation  begins  to  assume  a  really 
tropical  aspect.  We  find  many  species  of  Calceolaria,  Fuchsia,  and 
Amaryllidacese,  while  the  variety  of  orchids  and  ferns  is  quite  bewil- 
dering. At  6,500  feet  we  see  the  first  palms,  and  the  forest-trees 
become  buttressed  giants,  staggering  under  their  loads  of  vines  and 
climbing  aroids  and  ferns,  and  their  branches  covered  with  Bromeli- 
acese,  orchids,  and  other  parasites.  Seventy  parasites  have  been 
counted  upon  a  single  fallen  tree. 
The  cultivated  plants  of  the  coca  district  are  coffee,  rice,  cacao,  sugar- 
cane, tobacco,  maize,  cotton  (the  arborescent  species),  sweet  potatoes, 
yuccas,  and  the  ordinary  garden  vegetables.  The  principal  fruits  are 
oranges,  bananas,  cocoanuts,  lemons  (sweet  and  sour),  citrons,  grapes, 
chirimoyas,  alligator-pears,  tuinbas,  pomegranates,  grenadillas,  figs, 
papayas,  lukmas,  melons,  and  pineapples,  the  last  just  introduced. 
The  soil  in  such  a  broken  country  is  of  course  very  diversified, 
ranging  from  a  very  light  decomposed  shale  or  sandstone  to  a  heavy 
blue  or  chiefly  yellow  clay. 
