102 The Fermentation of Cacao. 
not recognize the real object of them, viz., to. 
bring about the oxidation of the partly dried 
beans at higher temperatures. At the same 
time they admitted that cacao treated by this 
process was of better quality. 
I have already pointed out that by the 
fermentation and drying methods at present 
employed, satisfactory results are obtained em- 
pirically in some cases, and that quite good 
cacao can be made from beans having lighter 
coloured nibs or cotyledons, z.e., such as con- 
tain a smaller amount of bitter substances. | 
propose now to enter more fully into the 
methods of gathering, fermenting, drying and 
dispatching the cacao that are usually adopted 
at the present time so far as they are known 
to me, and shall also point out how the 
method I have proposed might perhaps be 
used without necessitating any great changes 
being made. Finally, I shall suggest how in 
starting a new plant or cacao curing installa- 
tion the method of oxidation I have proposed 
may best be taken into consideration. 
The Gathering of the Cacao. 
On smaller plantations it is possible to pick 
cacao every week, and the pods will then be 
found to have reached an approximately equal 
stage of maturity or ripeness, but on larger 
plantations this cannot be done. In practice, 
therefore, one can never be in a position to 
treat pods of the same degree of maturity, 
