io The Fermentation of Cacao 



system of the three tanks is seldom met with. 

 Most of the planters ferment their cacao in 

 covered heaps, and, thanks to this and the care 

 they take in drying-, the cacao is of excellent 

 quality. Let me describe in detail the entire 

 process of preparing- the cacao as practised on 

 the Gangaroowa plantation near Peradeniya : 

 The ripe cacao pods are opened by the 

 Tamil women as they are brought in. This is 

 done by first cutting the pods crossways by 

 means of small knives fixed in a clumsy wooden 

 handle, after which they are broken by light 

 blows, and the contents collected in baskets. 

 The empty pods are then taken to the compost 

 or manure heaps. The various qualities met 

 with (Forastero, Criollo, and wild varieties) are 

 not separated, but the fruits attacked by canker, 

 or otherwise diseased, are carefully picked out 

 and fermented apart. As soon as about 100,000 

 pods are opened, their contents are placed to- 

 gether in a heap on a covered-in cement floor, 

 which has a slight gradient and outlet. The 

 latter is like a truncated cone, and is formed and 

 polished by beating with short wooden spades. 

 Then the heap is at once covered with 

 double layers of banana leaves ; over these 

 damp jute mats are spread, and the whole is 

 then covered with a layer of moist earth, 

 3 cm. to 5 cm. thick. The mats and the earth 

 are used again and again until it is necessary 

 to renew them. Thus heaped up, the cacao is 

 left from five to seven days to ferment, but 



