Mr. George S. Hudson 211 



the surface of the seed skin by applying 

 considerable friction to the mass of cacao. 

 To obviate crushing and to allow the seeds 

 to glide easily over each other they are slightly 

 damped by sprinkling water on them just 

 previous to polishing. One pint of water per 

 hundredweight should be ample. The opera- 

 tion of dancing is sometimes performed on the 

 flat surface of drying trays, or on a floor in the 

 drying house, when in addition to the ''dancers " 

 it is necessary to have other attendants to 

 continuously sweep back the cacao under the 

 feet of the polishers. A more economical way 

 is to utilize some receptacle with curved, bowl- 

 like sides so that the cacao automatically falls 

 back under the " dancers' ' feet ; for this 

 purpose the old-fashioned Muscovado sugar 

 boiling iron " tayche " is remarkably well 

 suited and is much in favour. The labour 

 involved before the seeds attain a good 

 i( gloss" is rather tiring, as each batch of 

 cacao of say 2 cwt. will take two men half 

 an hour or longer to polish. On many estates 

 it is performed by " task " work at the rate 

 of 3d. to 4d. per bag of 180 Ib. (dry weight), 

 and then, of course, the work proceeds more 

 expeditiously, but there is every temptation to 

 add too much water to quickly attain a fictitious 

 polish which is not retained permanently. The 

 gloss should proceed from the ruptured cells 

 permeating the seed skin, and giving it a 

 darker, shiny, and much improved appearance 



