Mr. George S. Hudson 179 



which in scientific language means "sparsely 

 inoculated with beneficial ferments and largely 

 inoculated (from the sides of the ' clean ' 

 boxes) with moulds and mildews." The first 

 lot of cacao, if sufficient in quantity, can, at 

 the expense of a day's delay, eventually attain 

 a temperature that defeats the mould and 

 mildew, and this high temperature and acetic 

 acid of the second and subsequent batches 

 completely routs these undesirable guests, and 

 thus completes their fermentation in one day 

 less than the first batch. If, however, the 

 bottom temperature of the last box is allowed 

 to fall below 100 F. the moulds and mildews 

 immediately reappear, and this will mean dis- 

 coloured, dark, ugly cacao already infected with 

 mildew germs. With sun drying in unfavour- 

 able weather, mildew is most frequently com- 

 municated from the cracks in the drying floor 

 to the moist seed. It is easy under these 

 circumstances to perceive the advantage of 

 maintaining thorough cleanliness in the interior 

 of sweating boxes, of doing away with 

 covered boxes and dark corners, and adopting 

 single-piece sides of a smooth material that 

 will not harbour spores. 



It is necessary to maintain perfect drainage 

 of the acid juice from the first two boxes. 

 This is sometimes attained by a movable 

 wooden grid or grating with spaces that retain 

 the smallest seed while allowing the escape of 

 the liquor. For wooden boxes a simple and 



