Mr. George S. Hudson 171 
showing a profit of 6d. per 100 lb. wet in 
favour of fermented, or about ts.- 6d. per 
ewt. dry cured. The actual expense of curing 
unfermented cacao is not smaller than that 
incurred in thoroughly fermenting, polishing 
and curing, for owing to the toughness of the 
cuticle of unfermented cacao,this product takes 
at least seven days more to dry than fer- 
‘mented beans, and the cost of drying, labour 
and space for this period must be taken into 
the calculation. These experiments, therefore, 
confirm the profitableness of fermenting cacao, 
as by doing so the planter obtains a better 
product of greater value. 
FreRMENTING RECEPTACLES. 
If one may credit the literature on this sub- 
ject, it would appear that almost every class of 
receptacle—from a hole in the earth to the 
most highly ingenious sweating boxes (one of 
which is evidently “designed to “cook” the 
cacao with a uniform temperature of 140° F.)— 
is used in one part of the world or another. 
In actual estate practice there are, however, 
very few modifications in fermenting boxes, 
and it is noticeable that the larger the estate 
the more simple are the receptacles. For 
estates producing less than 300 bags per annum 
a row or (incomplete) circle of seven or eight 
wooden boxes, each capable of holding a 
maximum day’s picking, is all that is necessary, 
provided drainage is arranged for the juice 
