196 The Fermentation of Cacao 
without driving wheel), worked by hand power, 
which assists materially in drawing the heated 
air through the building. The driving wheel 
should be 5 ft. in diameter, with a central 
grindstone handle, and built locally of wood— 
lead being added to the driving rim. The 
following rough sketch of the inner building 
may assist in giving a clearer idea of the 
process. 
In the original idea, as explained above, it 
fan ar 
E Tray. =}+—L ray J 
Cethng: =) 
( Tray a le Tray i} 
Smoke stack 
Ceiling 
[ Tray ime Tray ] 
Driving |\wheel 
Plan of the ‘* Whitfield Smith” Hot-air Dryer. 
has not been largely followed in the West 
Indies, although it has many advantages. _Its 
weak points are expensiveness in labour, fuel, 
and supervision, taking into consideration 
that it would probably take three to four 
working days of ten hours each to completely 
dry a charge of cacao, and that at least two 
men would be required, and about one cord of 
firewood, value 4s. to 8s. 
