350 COCOA 



CHAP. 



The general run of floor is about 40 to 50 feet long 

 by 18 to 20 feet wide. The sliding roofs are made 

 extremely light, placed on wheels, and are covered with 

 either plain or corrugated galvanised iron. The roof 

 is divided in the centre, and when the floor is exposed 

 each half is received by the frame-work contrived at 

 each end of the house. The central portion under the 

 flooring may be used for two sets of trays, one on each 

 side, which are made to run on wheels or light iron rails, 

 and so arranged as to be run out on frame-work at 

 right angles to the main frame-work of the building. 



In these trays the cocoa is exposed to the sun after 

 being sufficiently fermented ; but in the middle of the 

 day it is the custom, if very clear, to close the house 

 for an hour or two, to prevent the excess of heat from 

 blistering the cocoa. The layer of beans is spread 

 about 3 or 4 inches thick over the floor and is turned 

 frequently during the time it is exposed to the sun. 



Though often the use of artificial dryers has been 

 recommended to avoid the loss by " mildewed cocoa " 

 (slightly moulded cocoa) in rainy seasons, a good 

 number of planters are of opinion that the produce 

 obtained by artificial drying is never so good as when 

 dried in the sun, and they prefer to run the risk of 

 obtaining now and then "mildewed" cocoa than to 

 deteriorate the produce by artificial drying, but others 

 are convinced that such a deterioration is only 

 imaginary. 



As regards the dimensions of the drying floor in 

 the ordinary system, an area of 100 square feet is 

 considered ample drying space for the proper curing of 

 330 Ibs. (150 kilograms) of cocoa at a time. Besides, it 

 is generally accepted that there must be accommodation 

 for drying one-fourth to one-fifth of the whole year's 

 crop. A plantation producing 600 to 1000 barrels (300 

 to 500 bags of 100 kilograms) must have an accommoda- 

 tion for drying some 200 to 225 barrels (10,000 to 

 11,250 kilograms), viz. a drying floor of 6500 to 7500 

 square feet, or about 700 to 800 square metres. 



