165 



.duced by the Government Botanic Department. " The beans are 

 now placed in heaps upon mats and then covered up with mats 

 weighed down with stones, and left for four days if this takes 

 place upon the same day the pods are plucked, but for three days 

 if upon the following day ; after which they are washed in 

 baskets." 



Various fermentation experiments have been made with the 

 purple and bitter seeds of varieties cultivated in Cameroon, and 

 reports have been issued which are, to a certain extent, somewhat 

 contradictory. One authority,* however, asserts that by ferment- 

 ing the seeds in a particular manner it is possible to almost 

 entirely remove the bitter unpleasant taste so frequent in purple 

 seeds fermented in the ordinary manner. 



LENGTH OF FERMENTATION. 



Though this process is considered to be of vital importance in 

 the production of good kinds of cocoa, there is a very conspicuous 

 variation in the time allowed for fermentation, and most people 

 calculate when^fermentation is complete by the appearance of the 

 material to the naked eye and the odour of the mass of seeds. 

 Cocoa is sometimes only fermented for two days, at other times 

 the changes are allowed to continue for twelve or even more days, 

 and in all cases cocoa of good quality is apparently produced. It 

 may, however, be considered safe to state that those varieties 

 having thin integuments and white cotyledons require the mini- 

 mum time, and those with thicker integuments and purple cotyle- 

 dons the maximum ; to the former class belong the Caracas, 

 Nicaragua, and some forms of Forastero, and to the latter the 

 Calabacillo, Amelonado, and inferior kinds of Forastero. 



The length of time required can only be determined by practice 

 as the chemical and physical characters of the seeds of the same 

 variety vary according to the plant, its diseases, and to some 

 extent climatic conditions. It is asserted by some that the pulp 

 which surrounds the seeds contains, in Java, more water during 

 the west monsoon than in the east monsoon, and that in wet 

 weather the fermentation takes place more rapidly. The time 

 required for fermentation will also vary according to the method 

 employed, the market for which the cocoa is prepared, and the 

 quantity being fermented. Large quantities of cocoa ferment 

 quicker than small quantities, and due allowance must be made 

 for this. 



In parts of Java the cocoa is allowed to ferment two nights and 

 sometimes even only one night on account of the condition of 

 the seeds from diseased specimens. After a night of fermentation 

 the seeds from diseased specimens may germinate and produce 

 cocoa which is for the most part broken, very light, and of bad 

 quality. Usually healthy cocoa is allowed to ferment three days. 



In Java the Criollo does not usually require to be fermented 

 more than four days. The Criollo or Caracas type in Ceylon and 



* Zur Kakao —Fermentation, by Dr. A. Schulte im Hofe. Der Tropenflanzer, 

 May 1901. 



