VII 



FERMENTATION AND DRYING 217 



On some plantations in Java the planters have 

 tried to avoid this drawback by making the waggons 

 run one above the other in the manner illustrated in 

 Fig. 73. In this way the installation is simpler 

 and cheaper ; the topmost pair of rails has the largest 

 gauge, the lowest pair the narrowest. Similar drying- 

 houses are adopted on plantations in Guadeloupe, 

 Grenada, and Ecuador (Fig. 74). 



Photo, supplied by Mr. M. E. Seminario. 



FIG. 71. Sun-drying on wooden floors covered with split-bamboo matting 

 (Ecuador). 



In Trinidad the system of movable roofs is generally 

 adopted. The drying -floors of wood are fixtures, 

 standing on wooden posts about 2 metres (6^ ft.) above 

 the soil, and sometimes 20 metres (65 ft.) long and 5 

 metres (16| ft.) broad. A roof moving on rails is 

 pushed over the floor so as to cover the cocoa as soon 

 as rain comes (Fig. 75). 



It will be understood that these roofs as well as 

 the waggons used in Surinam must be made as light 

 as possible, so as to be easily and quickly pushed by 

 one man. The waggons in Surinam are made wholly 



