Mr. George S. Hudson 167 



field of cacao, (2) to find out if the cost 

 of picking operations is not excessive, and 

 (3) to be in a position to check the weight 

 of dry cured cacao turned out in comparison 

 with the amount of raw or "wet" cacao enter- 

 ing the sweating boxes. The latter reason 

 only is germane to this essay. The adoption of 

 some package of standard measure is necessary, 

 and, in the West Indies, the North Ameri- 

 can flour barrel is recommended as a uniform 

 measure, being cheaply and easily obtainable and 

 replaceable. Both the head and bottom of such 

 a barrel are removed, and it is placed, supported 

 by two short lengths of board which constitute 

 a false bottom above the uncovered (No. i) 

 sweating box. When filled it is easily emptied 

 by drawing away from underneath it one of the 

 short boards, when the contents fall into the 

 sweating box below. For more accurate meas- 

 urement it is convenient to theoretically divide 

 the barrel into twenty-four parts thus three- 

 fourths of a barrel would be if, half a barrel if, 

 and one quarter of a barrel -fa. Subdivision may 

 be carried further by a knowledge of how many 

 cacao baskets go to a barrel : thus if four baskets 

 usually fill the barrel, half a basket would equal 

 ~ of a barrel, somewhat less than half a basket 

 would count as ^, and a lesser quantity just 

 covering the bottom of an ordinary cacao basket 

 would be equivalent to ^ of a barrel. The 

 barrel is generally ** heaped " to the natural 

 angle of wet cacao, forming a mound the centre 



