192 The Fermentation of Cacao 



3 ft. per cwt. would suffice. Where drying 

 conditions are favourable these figures may be 

 reduced by about 25 per cent. 



Briefly described, this well-known sun cacao- 

 drying process is as follows. The fermenting 

 boxes are examined about 6 a.m., and if the 

 cacao is fit to go out on the " boucan " it is 

 carried in baskets over the short space separat- 

 ing the " boucan " from the fermenting house 

 and deposited on the drying floor or trays. It 

 is then raked over until the seeds lie two or 

 three deep. When this work has to be done, 

 one of the end pieces of a barrel head, in shape 



THE PALETTE. 

 Made from the end piece of a barrel head. 



describing a quarter circle (see illustration), 

 is mounted on a rough straight handle of con- 

 venient length, and the straight edge is used 

 to rake the seeds smooth. In order to allow 

 the bottom of the floor (now completely 

 obscured by damp cacao) to dry out and 

 become warm in the sun, the cacao is, at halt 

 hour intervals during the first morning, heaped 

 into small ridges a few inches apart, for which 

 purpose the sharp points of the quarter circle 

 are used, exposing each time a different surface 

 of the floor between the ridges. When the 

 cacao is more thinly deposited on the drying 



