190 The Fermentation of Cacao 
Compared with the type of “boucan” con- 
sisting of a number of trays on wheels, the 
sliding roof pattern may not be the cheapest 
house to build as regards providing so many 
superficial feet of drying space for so much 
money, but it will be found the cheapest house 
to work, and that point is infinitely more 
important than initial cost. The roof should. 
be covered with light galvanized iron sheets, 
28 gauge. The span should be from 16 ft. to 
20 ft., and the length should be just as long 
as will allow of one man pushing each half. 
roof to and fro easily. This will depend on 
the skill in construction, lightness and trueness 
of the roof, and the iron rails and style of 
wheels used, 50 ft. length being taken as a 
minimum; the outside rails should be sup- 
ported on concrete pillars. This type of 
‘“boucan” may be multiplied to meet the 
needs of a large estate. The advantage of 
economy in working is all in, favour of the 
large floor space; small trays involve too 
much labour in constantly shifting the cacao 
from one tray to another, to make room for 
new batches as curing progresses, and also 
involves too much dropping of seed on the 
ground in the process. It is quite impossible 
to efficiently deal with mildew on a wooden 
drying floor, consequently batch after batch 
of cacao coming from the fermenting boxes 
receive their inoculation of mildew, which lives 
on the skin of the seeds, until more or less 
