The leaf is the only part of the plant used.
It should be gathered in dry weather; this is entrusted generally to women, and simply consists in plucking each leaf with the fingers.
The leaves are received into aprons, carefully carried under sheds, to shelter them from the rain and dampness, dried, and then packed.
We quote from the Voyage dans la région du Titicaca, by Paul Marcoy, the following passage ("Tour of the World," May, 1877): "Of all the valleys of the Carabaya group, Ituata is the one where Coca is cultivated on the largest scale. They were then at the height of the work, peons and peonnes were following each other through the plantations of the shrub, so dear to the natives that a decree of 1825 placed it in the crown of the arms of Peru, alongside of the vicunia and cornucopia, or horn-of-plenty. Men and women carried a cloth slung across the shoulders in which were placed the leaves, as they gathered them one by one. These leaves, spread out on large awnings, were exposed to the sun for two or three days, then packed up in bags of about one metre in size, and sent off to all parts of the territory.
"This gathering of the Coca is just such an occasion for rejoicing for the natives of the valleys, as reaping-time and harvests are for our peasants. On the day when the gathering of the leaves is finished both sexes that have taken part in the work assemble and celebrate, in dances and libations, the pleasure they experience in having finished their labors."
In 1851, the annual production of Bolivia was estimated to be more than 400,000 certos (600,000 kilogrammes) of Coca leaves, of which three-quarters came from the province of Yungas.
Observation of Growing Seeds in Hot-houses of M. Mariani.