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gone through ; at the end of five to eight days fermentation isusually 

 considered complete, though only long experience can teach those 

 responsible when the desired changes have been induced. 



In Surinam a temperature above 45°C. is considered to be de- 

 trimental, and all fermenting chambers are situated in places 

 protected from the wind. The sweatings are, by means of the 

 sloping floor, conducted to an open channel constructed of glazed 

 earthenware, and are thus allowed to escape from the fermenting 

 heaps of cocoa. The best results are believed to be obtained by 

 fermenting large instead of small quantities of cocoa ; the Surinam 

 planters believe that the changes are more complete and better 

 when fermenting is clone in moist than in wet weather. 



According to Chittenden, in Venezuela* :—" The conuquero 

 puts his beans to drain, and forthwith exposes them to the sun 

 for say five or six hours, then heaps and packs them up to sweat 

 afresh until the following day, when they get five or six hours 

 more sun and so on. Another contrivance of the small grower 

 is that of bagging the cocoa at the end of the day whilst still hot 

 from exposure to the sun and sweating it during the night." 



In Mexico, according to one authority, holes are made in the earth 

 and covered with sacks or leaves of bananas ; in these the seeds are 

 placed and then covered with sacks or leaves ; the material 

 is then left till the cocoa is sufficiently fermented. In Surinam, 

 according to the same authority, the cocoa is thrown into heaps 

 in wooden sheds and then covered with banana leaves. In certain 

 countries of South America the seeds are put into leather bags to 

 ferment, and left suspended till the changes are complete ; large 

 casks are often used in which the fermented cocoa is placed, and 

 the casks rolled to aid in the mixing of the fermented mass. In 

 Granada and Trinidad, according to Van der Held, the Strickland 

 method is employed ; this requires a transference to three separate 

 receptacles for different fermentations, the fermentation often 

 requiring a dozen days. 



FERMENTATION IN JAVA. 



In the opinion of Van der Held, after his experience in Java, 

 the cocoa ferments best in receptacles of wood with the minimum 

 quantity of air. It is not absolutely necessary that these should 

 be constructed of closed walls, but they should be capable of 

 being covered, and situated in places sheltered from the wind. In 

 Java the fermentation is sometimes made in movable receptacles, 

 the wooden walls of which are perforated in order to allow the 

 by-products of fermentation to flow away. In the same island 

 sometimes fixed receptacles of large dimensions are used. If the pro- 

 duction of cocoa is not very considerable, Van der Held recom- 

 mends the use of small movable receptacles, which can be easily 

 cleaned. For a large estate he recommends the following :- 



Place the fermenting tubs or troughs in an amphitheatre, and 

 have the walls made of movable planks capable of being slid 

 into the grooves of supports. Each receptacle is two metres long, 



* Cacao, by J. Hinchley Hart, Trinidad, 1900. 



