Mr. George S. Hudson 187 



(3) Economy in utilizing- a limited labour 

 supply. 



(4) Saving in wastage and pilfering. 



(5) In greatly expediting the whole process, 

 thereby saving both time and money. 



The expense of fermenting cacao efficiently 

 stands in a very small proportion to the entire 

 cost of curing. Taking the actual labour 

 wages for curing cacao as costing is. 6d. per 

 cwt., it is probable that of this amount one 

 penny per cwt. would cover the cost of fermen- 

 tation. It is obvious, therefore, that when 

 studying economy the cost of fermentation 

 stands as a negligible quantity in comparison 

 with drying, polishing, &c. 



Drying appliances and methods are quite as 

 numerous as the different types of fermenting 

 boxes, but in actual estate practice quite 90 

 per cent., if not more, of the world's cacao 

 output is dried in the sun. Some few estates 

 combine sun drying with a hot-air chamber for 

 wet weather and to enable them to continue 

 drying during the night in times of crop 

 pressure, and within the last ten years many 

 of the larger estates in the West Indies have, 

 at a cost of ,1,000 to 1,500, established 

 rotary drying machines, which force heated air 

 through the constantly agitated cacao, com- 

 pleting both the curing and polishing pro- 

 cess in thirty-six hours' continuous work- 

 ing. A fourth method worthy of notice is 

 vacuum drying, which 1 believe has only 



