304 COCOA 



CHAP. 



reverted to the old method of very slight fermenta- 

 tion. 



This may prove that the " Arriba," like all the finer 

 kinds of cocoa, requires only a very slight fermenta- 

 tion to be marketable ; but still the quality could be 

 improved if attention were paid to the fermentation so 

 as always to obtain a uniform product. Fermenting 

 in special boxes would probably be advisable ; but care 

 would have to be taken to obtain an even, and not too 

 high, temperature and not to leave the beans too long 

 in the boxes. 



The incomplete fermentation makes a thorough 

 drying necessary. This, however, is never done arti- 

 ficially, and is left entirely to the sun, and the cocoa 

 is not treated with dry earth, as in Venezuela. It is 

 therefore not surprising that the product often moulds 

 or even rots ; in this way large quantities are lost in 

 rainy seasons, but even in dry years large quantities 

 of mouldy Ecuador cocoa are placed on the market. 

 Sometimes the cocoa is dried a second time at Guayaquil 

 by the export houses, and also selected and cleaned. 

 A very peculiar method adopted at Bahia de Caraques 

 is to sprinkle the cocoa with sea- water after drying. 

 This product is much appreciated, especially on the 

 London market. 



The labourers on the plantations are mostly natives 

 of Ecuador, though a small number are immigrants 

 from Colombia and Peru. Labour is scarce and wages 

 rather high about one sucre (2s.) per day of eight- 

 hours, with free housing and medical attendance. The 

 result is, as has been described, a cultivation of little 

 intensity. On an area of 5 or 6 hectares 1 only one 

 labourer is generally used, and Preuss mentions a 

 plantation near Balao with a yearly production of about 

 600 tons of cocoa (and probably about 1000 hectares 

 in extent), where only 150 to 180 labourers were 

 employed. This corresponds with the experience of 

 Mr. Seminario, who estimates that; on the average, 



1 One hectare = 2 acres. 



