206 The Fermentation of Cacao 
bags of 200 lb. each, and would cost about 
4210 in England. It is obvious that if we 
can cope with times of pressure, the rest of the 
year’s crop can be easily safeguarded. The 
machines of Emil Passburg, of Berlin, are more 
expensive, but it is only fair to say that their 
reputation is very high. Apparently Pass- 
burg’s machine, capable of taking 3 cwt. of 
wet cacao in one charge, costs £300 in 
Berlin without boiler or pump, while a Pass- 
burg dryer to contain 13 cwt. per charge is_ 
quoted at £700! complete with boiler, pump, 
and extra trays; one pump and condenser can, 
however, be used with three or four drying 
chambers for very large crops. This latter 
machine should turn out six and a half bags 
of 200 lb. each of dry cacao per day, and 
should therefore be able to handle a crop of 
800 bags per annum; its cost, therefore, in 
comparison with the price of Gordon dryers, 
does not seem excessive. The Passburg dryers 
have apparently gained repeat orders from cacao 
estates in the Cameroons and West Africa, and 
they are also used for rubber drying in the 
Malay States. It is quite possible that 
difficulties may arise at the outset in the 
manipulation of these dryers, and it is this fear 
that deters planters with little or no engineering 
experience from putting down their hundreds 
of pounds for new machinery. I again suggest 
that it is the business of the different State- 
1 This ought to be about £825.—H.H. S. 
