1 64 



are adopted in the island of Trinidad. One fermenting house on 

 La Reunion Plantation, Trinidad, consists of sixteen compart- 

 ments each I ' 5 metres high and about as broad, and 2 metres 

 long. The walls are made of wood, and between each two boxes 

 and along the sides is a layer of clay and dry grass, sometimes 

 about 20 cm. thick, to act as a non-conductor of heat : each com- 

 partment is supplied with a lid. The boxes are filled to a depth 

 of about one metre with fresh wet cocoa, covered with a layer of 

 banana leaves and then closed. One box is kept empty so that 

 the seeds can be transferred at any time, and the used boxes 

 washed out every one or two days. The seeds are first fermented 

 for one or two days after which they are transferred to an empty 

 box and fermented again for a similar period. The transference 

 from box to box is made every one or two days until fermentation 

 is complete, eight days being generally required for ordinary 

 Forastero seeds and fourteen days for Calabacillo. 



In some districts the cocoa is fermented in bags suspended in 

 holes in the earth, the contents being repeatedly kneaded without 

 the sack being opened ; by this means fermentation is said to be 

 effected in about five days. 



Another method is that associated with Cradwick,* which con- 

 sists of using a cask, perforated at the bottom to allow the liquid 

 to escape ; the floor is covered with a thick layer of dried banana 

 leaves (25 cm. in thickness), and the walls are covered with a 

 layer of the same material. The wet seeds are placed in the 

 cask and then covered with banana leaves and allowed to fer- 

 ment ; after they have fermented for about two days, those in the 

 upper part are taken out separately and subsequently returned 

 first to the empty cask so as to be at the bottom during the follow- 

 ing days, and those which were previously at the bottom now 

 occupy the upper part. This operation is again repeated after 

 two days' fermenting. This method is said to be suitable for 

 fermenting cocoa from about one thousand fruits, but if more are 

 used an undesirable temperature may occur; if the quantity is less 

 more banana leaves are used and the cocoa often weighted during 

 fermentation. 



FERMENTATION IN AFRICA. 



The reportf of one company operating in Africa states that in 

 the preparation of cocoa very good results have been obtained by 

 fermenting the cocoa for six days, the cured product having lost 

 much of its bitter taste and secured a higher valuation. The same 

 persons also report that the washing of cocoa, though it always 

 gave them a clear bright colour, has now been dispensed with, as 

 by omitting this operation they increase their weight of cocoa by 

 8 to 10 per cent. 



In West Africa, according to Johnson, the old plan of preparing 

 the beans for market by simply drying them in the sun has been 

 abandoned everywhere in favour of the fermenting method intro- 



* Bulletin of the Botanical Department, Jamaica, III. I.Jan., 1896, p. 15. 

 t Kamerum Land-und Plantagen-Gesellschaft, Hamburg, p. 481, DerTropenflanzer 

 Nov. 1902. 



