conditions, scientifically trained overseers will be required to produce
them, and for this they will need to have under their direction
arrangements for fermentation designed on correct principles and
allowing some degree of control. Whilst improvements are always possible
in the approach to perfection, it must be admitted that, considering the
means at their disposal, the planters produce a remarkably fine product.

[Illustration: FOR DRYING SMALL QUANTITIES.
A simple tray-barrow, which can be run under the house when rain comes
on.]



_Loss on Fermenting and Drying._

The fermented cacao is conveyed from the fermentary to the drying trays
or floors. The planter often has some rough check-weighing system. Thus,
for example, he notes the number of standard baskets of wet cacao put
into the fermentary, and he measures the fermented cacao produced with
the help of a bottomless barrel. By this means he finds that on
fermentation the beans lose weight by the draining away of the
"sweatings," according to the amount and juiciness of the pulp round
them. The beans are still very wet, and on drying lose a high percentage
of their moisture by evaporation before the cacao bean of commerce is
obtained.

The average losses may be tabulated thus:

Weight of wet cacao from pod           100
Loss on fermentation              20 to 25
Loss on drying                          40
                                  --------
Cacao beans of commerce obtained  35 to 40

[Illustration: SPREADING THE CACAO BEANS ON MATS TO DRY IN THE SUN,
CEYLON.]

The drying of cacao is an art. On the one hand it is necessary to get
the beans quite dry (that is, in a condition in which they hold only
their normal amount of water--5 to 7 per cent.) or they will be liable
to go mouldy. On the other hand, the husk or shell of the bean must not
be allowed to become burned or brittle. Brittle shells produce waste in
packing and handling, and broken shells allow grubs and mould to enter
the beans when the cacao is stored. The method of drying varies in
different countries according to the climate. Jose says: "In the wet
season when 'Father Sol' chooses to lie low behind the clouds for days
and your cocoa house is full, your curing house full, your trees
loaded, then is the time to put on his mettle the energetic and
practical planter. In such tight corners, _amigo_, I have known a friend
to set a fire under his cocoa house to keep the cocoa on the top
somewhat warm. Another friend's plan (and he recommended it) was to
address his patron saint on such occasions. He never addressed that
saint at other times."

[Illustration: DRYING TRAYS, GRENADA.
The trays slide on rails. The corrugated iron roofs will slide over the
whole to protect from rain.]

In most producing areas sun-drying is preferred, but in countries where
much rain falls, artificial dryers are slowly but surely coming into
vogue. These vary in pattern from simple heated rooms, with shelves, to
vacuum stoves and revolving drums. The sellers of these machines will
agree with me when I say that every progressive planter ought to have
one of these artificial aids to use during those depressing periods when
the rain continually streams from the sky. On fine days it is difficult
to prevent mildew appearing on the cacao, but at such times it is
impossible. However, whenever available, the sun's heat is preferable,
for it encourages a slow and even drying, which lasts over a period of
about three days. As Dr. Paul Preuss says: "II faut eviter une
dessiccation trop rapide. Le cacao ne peut etre seche en moins de trois
jours."[5] Further, most observers agree with Dr. Sack that the valuable
changes, which occur during fermentation, continue during drying,
especially those in which oxygen assists. The full advantage of these is
lost if the temperature used is high enough to kill the enzymes, or if
the drying is too rapid, both of which may occur with artificial drying.

    [5] Dr. Paul Preuss, _Le cacao. Culture et Preparation_.

Sun-drying is done on cement or brick floors, on coir mats or trays, or
on wooden platforms. In order to dry the cacao uniformly it is raked
over and over in the sun. It must be tenderly treated, carefully
"watched and caressed," until the interior becomes quite crisp and in
colour a beautiful brown.

Sometimes the platforms are built on the top of the fermentaries, the
cacao being conveyed through a hole in the roof of the fermentary to the
drying platform.

[Illustration: "HAMEL-SMITH" ROTARY DRYER.
(Made by Messrs. David Bridge and Co., Manchester).

The receiving cylinders, six in number, are filled approximately
three-quarters full with the cacao to be dried. These are then placed in
position on the revolving framework, which is enclosed in the casing and
slowly revolved. The cylinders are fitted with baffle plates, which
gently turn over the cacao beans at each revolution so that even drying
throughout is the result. The casing is heated to the requisite
temperature by means of a special stove, the arrangement of which is
such as to allow the air drawn from the outside to circulate around the
stove and to pass into the interior of the casing containing the drying