Synopsis 
prove matters—chemists to sell the medium—the 
Government should co-operate—£300 extra profit 
per 1,000 bags to result—Is unfermented cacao 
asked for ?—care needed to inoculate suiccessfully— 
“ weathered ” cacao— sweating boxes — vacuum 
dryers to revolutionize drying—the small producer 
—picking unripe pods—* unripeness” a misnomer 
—remove the placenta and refuse—separate the 
qualities—capacity measurements of wet cacao— 
how to calculate same and check loss in weight— 
four baskets equal one barrel weighing 300 1b.— 
ratio of uncured to cured cacao—full details as to 
weights and loss in curing—Is fermentation profit- 
able ?—fermenting receptacles or sweating-boxes 
discussed—7 barrels or 2,100 Ib. wet cacao in a box 
—the need to make them strong—materials for 
making boxes discussed—what to avoid and what 
to choose—plan of an ideal curing house (illustrated) 
—slate sweating-boxes—fermenting cacao, tem- 
perature, ferments, changing, &c., &c. discussed 
—a week’s ‘work detailed—beware of 100° F.— 
keep your boxes clean—maintain perfect drainage 
—how to secure this—arrange your leaf-cover care- 
fully—what happens when you do otherwise—most 
suitable leaves to use—how to assist stubborn fer- 
mentation — give. “‘ cacao-flies ” free access —the 
importance of ‘changing ”—immediate result of 
slackness in this—use a wooden spade—some 
negative experiments—a table of fermentation tem- 
peratures -— again regarding the distribution of 
inoculating cultures—drying by natural and arti- 
ficial means — sun-drying — boucans — covered-in 
areas—trays, trolleys, and floors—areas, say 5 sq. 
feet per cwt. of dry cacao—might be reduced to 
3 sq. feet—the palette—sun-drying discussed in 
detail—artificial dryers—Whitfield-Smith’s design 
(illustrated) and Mr. Hudson’s improvements (illus- 
trated)—rotary dryers — Messrs. John Gordon’s 
make—the Hamel Smith dryer—the difficulty of in- 
teresting planters—vacuum dryers—Messrs. George 
Scott’s described—the Passburg vacuum dryer—if 
more expensive still worth the money—the Govern- 
ment stations should test machines for the informa- 
tion of the planters—washing cacao—the loss in 
weight and gain in price—washing v. claying or 
polishing—‘ airing” washed cacao --clayed cacao— 
