118 HARVESTING AND TRANSPORTING 



" flower-cushions " by the careless handling of reaping- 

 knives must tend to diminish subsequent yields. 



Bean Extraction. On some estates the beans are ex- 

 tracted from the fruits in the neighbourhood of the 

 collecting grounds, on others the fruits are conveyed to 

 the fermenting-houses and the beans are extracted there. 

 The latter method has certain advantages in its favour, 

 for the beans can be protected better from rain, which 

 impairs their fermentative properties, and there is less 

 likelihood of their becoming contaminated with foreign 

 substances. 



The fruit-shells contain valuable plant-foods, and it is 

 advisable to incorporate them in the soil, so that their 

 conveyance to the fermenting-house and back to the 

 plantation entails unnecessary labour. 



The fruits are usually broken open by hand. On some 

 estates a knife is used ; the operator holds the fruit in 

 the palm of one hand and the knife in the other, a trans- 

 verse cut is made in the shell of the fruit and a sharp jerk 

 of the knife-hand splits it open. A certain amount of 

 skill is required to prevent the knife injuring the beans. 



On other estates the fruits are beaten with a small, 

 heavy club, or the fruit is banged on a hard sub- 

 stance until it is sufficiently crushed to be easily opened. 

 Usually the beans are extracted by different labourers, as 

 one labourer opening the fruits can keep two others em- 

 ployed in extracting the beans and separating the stringy 

 placentas from them. 



When the fruits are opened in the plantation, frequently 

 the beans are placed on banana leaves spread on the 

 ground preparatory to being transported to the ferment- 

 ing-house. This method is open to objection, as it entails 

 unnecessary labour in removing the beans to various 

 receptacles before they can be taken to the fermenting- 

 house. A better plan is to supply the labourers who 

 extract the beans with baskets or some similar article 

 in which the beans can be placed as they are extracted 

 from the fruit-shells. Suitable baskets for this purpose 

 can be made of strips cut from the petiole of various 

 palm leaves. 



Beans which have commenced to germinate or have 

 been injured by fungus, insect, or animal pests should 

 be placed apart and fermented separately. This will 



