Mr. George S. Hudson 175 



and sewn up the same day. 1 Economy would 

 be exercised in time and all the advantages 

 secured that this saving entails, such as land 

 space, expenditure, supervision, labour, pilfer- 

 ing, and wastage. The building need not be an 

 expensive one ; its capacity to deal with a crop 

 would be in proportion to the size of the sweat- 

 ing boxes and the vacuum or machine dryer, and 

 it should turn out the highest possible grade of 

 cacao in the most unfavourable climatic con- 

 ditions. Vacuum and machine drying and 

 polishing will be dealt with in their place in 

 this essay, also the non -advisability of washing 

 or grading cacao. 



SLATE SWEATING BOXES. 



Before leaving the subject of sweating box 

 construction it will be useful to mention some 

 experiments on the writer's part to provide 

 a smooth, continuous and more cleanly surface 

 for the interior of sweating boxes than wooden, 

 boards. It is obvious to anyone with experi- 

 ence in this matter, and Dr. Nicholls has also 

 commented on it from a bacterial point of view, 

 that the worn surface and crevices of boards 

 form an ideal breeding place for mildew and 

 other undesirable germs which persist and 

 multiply even when the boxes are empty. 



1 No matter how pressed for time, however, the cacao 

 must be absolutely cooled before being bagged, other- 

 wise it will develop exterior moulds. H. H. S. 



