Cacao or Cocoa 



127 



mounted on wheels, which run on rails. There is a house adjoining, and each fine morn- 

 ing the platforms with their loads are run out, and can be hurried under cover in a very few 

 minutes if necessary. The heat of the mid-day sun is sometimes so great that it would not 

 be wise to allow the cacao to remain exposed the whole day. 



The alternative method is to make the platform stationary and have a movable roof. 

 This is the method generally adopted in Trinidad, although the former is also largely employed. 

 A drying-house of this character is shown in a picture in the next part. 



Economy of space can often be effected by combining the two methods. We may have- 

 a fixed platform sufficiently raised to allow one, two, or more tiers of i movable trays to be 

 protected under it, whilst a sliding roof, in one or two portions, can be used to cover the fixed 

 platform at will. Such an arrangement, in use on one of Messrs. Cadbury's estates in Grenada, 

 is shown in the illustration on p. 128. 



Artificial drying-houses are of various types. One of the most successful may be called 

 the Ceylon drier, and a house of this pattern was some years ago built by the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for the West Indies at the Botanic Station, Dominica. Hot air is made 

 to pass in succession over and around a series of trays, arranged one above the other, and 

 in such a house cacao can be dried in twenty-four hours, instead of requiring a week or so- 

 as when dried in the sun. 



Another pattern of drying apparatus which has recently attracted considerable attention 

 in the West Indies is that patented by Mr. Hoadley, of Chaquanas Estate, Trinidad. The 

 following description of his invention is taken from the West Indian Bulletin, Vol. VI (1908), 

 p. 80: "The cacao-drying apparatus consists of an ordinary room, thirty-four feet square, 

 with twenty-five feet perforated circular drying floor, upon which cacao is placed direct from 

 the fermenting box. In the centre of the drying tray is a vertical axle from which pro.je'ct 

 four arms which are revolved once in ten minutes. To each arm are attached six 

 ploughs, the operations of which are- equal to the work of twelve coolies in keeping the cacao 

 in constant motion. Hot air is generated by exhaust steam which is passed into 1,100 feet 

 of piping enclosed in a box, over which cold air is drawn by a powerful fan which, makes frofn. 

 600 to 700 revolutions per minute. The air in its passage becomes heated to any ^desired 

 point up to 150° F., and is forced up through the drying floor. The machine will dry from 

 twelve to fifteen bags of cacao in thirty to thirty-six hours. The cost of installing the system 

 is said to be between £300 

 and £400." A Trinidad bag 

 of cacao weighs about 170 lbs. 



Colouring. Cacao beans 

 are appreciated of a good 

 colour and of bright clean 

 appearance. Sometimes uni- 

 form colouration is secured 

 by mixing with the beans a 

 small amount of red earth 

 or clay, or even annatto. 

 This, however, is by no means 

 a universal practice. 



Polishing. During damp 

 weather the cacao if left in 

 a heap tends to become mil- 

 dewed on the outside. This 

 can be prevented or got rid of 

 by the gentle rubbing of the 

 beans against one another, 



GATHERING THE FRUIT 



