Mr. George S. Hudson 209 



which subsists principally on these unnecessary 

 substances. 



The process of airing " washed " cacao 

 differs somewhat from that heretofore des- 

 cribed. On the morning of the day previous 

 to that on which fermentation is anticipated 

 to be complete (i.e., twenty-four hours earlier) 

 the cacao is removed from the fermenting box 

 and thoroughly washed. It is then exposed to 

 the sun for a few hours, and while still slightly 

 damp and heated is returned to a sweating box 

 lined with large leaves and carefully covered 

 until next morning, when a further fermenta- 

 tion will be found to have taken place. It 

 is then placed on the drying trays, when it 

 will only mildew under the most adverse con- 

 ditions (in which case it is again washed), and 

 given good sunny weather, attains a thorough 

 degree of dryness within four or five days. 

 The colour of the beans is a clear, attractive 

 red, and they retain their plumpness and good 

 -break." 



CLAYED CACAO. 



This process consists of sprinkling a very 

 finely powdered red earth on the seeds on or 

 about the second or third day of drying and 

 working it into the cacao by trampling with 

 bare feet. It imparts a characteristic dull red 

 uniform colour to the sample, and this appear- 

 ance is recognized as being distinctive of a 

 certain class of Trinidad and Venezuelan cacao. 



