FERMENTATION AFFECTED BY CLIMATE 149 



moves off on hinges, which enables the cocoa beans to be 

 directly shovelled into this section from the trolleys, also 

 shown in the plate. Each trolley holds about 1J tons 

 of freshly shelled cocoa, and generally three trolley loads 

 are placed in each chamber. The roof is then closed. 



During the dry, cool season the beans are left in the 

 back section of the chamber for three days, but two days 

 are considered sufficient in the hot, rainy season. They 

 are then shovelled into the front section of the chamber 

 through two sliding trap-doors which communicate 

 between the two sections of each chamber. The fact 

 that the floor of the back section is on a level with the 

 top of the front section considerably facilitates this 

 operation. Fermentation is then allowed to continue 

 for a period of two and three days in the hot and cool 

 season respectively. 



The floor of the front section is 80 cm. (2*6 ft.) above 

 the ground. The fermented beans are conveyed away 

 to the drying platforms on small trolleys, which run on 

 rails, so placed as to bring them alongside the sliding 

 doors provided in the front of the chambers. The top 

 of the trolley being on a level with the floor enables the 

 beans to be expeditiously shovelled from the chamber 

 into the trolley. 



Only Forastero varieties of cocoa are cultivated in 

 San Thome, and the writer found that the cocoa cured 

 by the above described methods was inadequately 

 fermented. This no doubt was due to the beans not 

 being sufficiently aerated during the fermenting process, 

 and to a too restricted period of fermentation. During 

 the first stage of fermentation the beans are completely 

 closed in. It is extremely doubtful whether sufficient 

 air enters by the perforations in the floor and side of the 

 chamber to aerate properly a mass of closely packed 

 beans 4 ft. wide, 4 ft. deep, and 13 ft. long. 



On several occasions when the beans were being 

 transferred from one section to another, after the expira- 

 tion of the first period of fermentation, it was observed 

 that fermentation had only commenced in the beans 

 nearest to the sides and roof of the chamber. In the 

 operation of shovelling the beans from one section to 

 the other, a thorough admixture is effected and a more 

 uniform fermentation of the whole mass is then very 



