IX 



COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 349 



Washing the cocou after fermenting is not usual in 

 Trinidad ; planters are of opinion that the trouble and 

 the loss in weight are not compensated by a higher price. 



Drying is generally done in Trinidad by exposure 

 to the sun, though artificial drying is also done on some 

 of the larger estates. 



The drying in the sun is simply done " on large 



FIG. 113. Drying floors with movable roofs, Trinidad. 

 From Fauchere, Culture pratique. 



wooden floors or trays which can be rapidly covered 

 when rain is about to fall, either by running -in the 

 trays under a fixed roof or having a movable roof over 

 a fixed floor (Figs. 75, 113). The latter is by far the 

 most common form of a drying house used in Trinidad, 

 though both systems are in use, separate or combined." 



Hart gives the following description of the drying 

 houses : 



The houses are erected of wood, the floor being 

 made large or small according to the size of the estate. 



