Mr. George S. Hudson 177 



made of wood lined with " Ruberoid " as a 

 single panel. 



FERMENTING CACAO. 



The biological, entomological and chemical 

 aspect of this process is fully dealt with by 

 Dr. Nicholls in the next chapter, in this one the 

 practical everyday side of the subject is treated. 



The following axioms are submitted as 

 having been borne out by the writer's ex- 

 periments : 



(t) The higher the temperature attained and 

 maintained for some days by primary natural 

 fermentation, the better the class of cacao 

 turned out. (The maximum limit of tempera- 

 ture attained by the writer's experiments was 

 n 9 F.) 



(2) The addition of Dr. Lucius Nicholls' 

 pure ferment and yeast food solution induces 

 a higher and more prolonged beneficial fermen- 

 tation. 



(3) The daily "changing" of cacao from 

 box to box by a wooden spade, thereby trans- 

 ferring the bottom seeds to the top, is most 

 necessary to attain the best results. 



(4) Beneficial fermentation ceases as soon 

 as the bottom of a box falls belows 100 F. 



(5) The larger the quantity of cacao fer- 

 mented the quicker is a high temperature 

 attained and lost ; but small quantities, while 

 requiring a longer period, can be fermented 

 just as efficaciously as large. 



12 



