Ill CACAO 121 



ject of opening the cacao is to cause the fermentation to be 

 equal ; for, in changing it, that which is on top at first be- 

 comes the bottom layer in the second receptacle, and thus J'^e heaps to 



•^ J • -1 "^ turned. 



uniformity is secured. When the cacao is sweated m heaps 

 in a closed house, the heaps can be turned over or stirred up 

 on the third day ; and, in this way, the outside beans will 

 get their due turn of the full fermentation process. Some 

 fine kinds of cacao do not require to sweat so long, but ex- 

 perience alone can determine this point. In the fermentation 

 the first stages of the germination of the seed go on. The 

 moisture, warmth, and a certain amount of air, cause the 

 seeds to swell, carbonic acid is given off, and the food stored 

 up in the seed for the use of the embryo is converted into 

 soluble matter, and this accounts for the modification of the 

 bitter taste of the raw bean brought about by the sweating 

 process. 



Curing. — The beans having been properly sweated they Drying the 

 are to be dried ready for shipment, and this drying process 

 is termed curing. The drying may be done in wooden 

 trays, or on paved or cemented platforms called barbecues. 

 In Trinidad, the trays are fixed, and a roof on rollers is Drying 

 placed over them. When the sun is out the roof is rolled 

 back and the cacao is exposed ; during rain and at nights 

 the roof is rolled over the trays, and in this way time and 

 labour in carrying out the trays and taking them in again 

 are spared. On the Malgre-tout estate in Dominica the 

 roof is a fixture, and large trays on rollers are pulled out 

 like the drawers of a clothes press. The sweated beans 

 are spread out thinly, well rubbed and exposed to the sun in 

 the morning, and at mid-day they are put back in the sweat- 

 ing boxes or houses to undergo another partial fermentation 

 for if they be dried straight off they will deteriorate in value. 



The second day they are kept longer in the sun, and the 

 third day they are kept out as long as the sun lasts. They When cured 

 are put out on succeeding days until they are thoroughly 



