FERMENTING EXPERIMENTS IN GOLD COAST 135 



them until required for use, when they are roasted, 

 ground, and made into chocolate. 



Java. Van der Held has published the following 

 suggestions relative to cocoa fermentation in Java. 

 Preferably, wooden receptacles should be used, which 

 can be conveniently covered and placed in situations 

 sheltered from the wind. 



Small movable vessels capable of being readily cleaned 

 should be employed where only small quantities of 

 beans have to be dealt with. On larger estates he advises 

 the adoption of the following apparatus : The walls 

 of the receptacles should be made of movable boards 

 which slide into grooves or supports ; the dimensions of 

 each compartment being 2 metres (6| ft.) long by 1 metre 

 (3J ft.) broad and deep. The compartments should be 

 arranged in rows in the form of an amphitheatre, so that 

 if the beans be first placed in the upper row of compart- 

 ments they may be readily transferred to a lower tier 

 by shifting the movable walls. The bottoms of the 

 receptacles should be perforated with holes about \ cm. 

 in diameter to allow the liquid which drains from the 

 fermenting beans to pass away. 



West Africa. The bulk of the cocoa exported from 

 British West Africa was, up to some ten years ago, simply 

 dried in the sun. Amelonado is the principal variety 

 grown, and its fresh beans have an astringent flavour. 

 The sun-dried beans retain their bitterness, the " break " 

 is defective, and they are consequently rated at a low 

 market value. Cocoa-curing experiments conducted in 

 the Gold Coast have shown that the beans of this variety, 

 when properly fermented and cured, yield a much superior 

 product, and these have been classed by European buyers 

 with Ceylon and West Indian cocoas. Samples of cocoa 

 prepared during these experiments were awarded medals 

 at the Paris Exhibition, 1900, and also at the St. Louis 

 Exhibition, 1905. Separate series of experiments were 

 carried out with a view to determine the period of fer- 

 mentation best adapted to the beans of this variety and 

 also the relative advantages attaching to long and short 

 periods of fermentation, as well as the advisability of 

 washing the beans after fermentation. 



In 1903, three lots of cocoa were prepared as 

 follows : 



