Mr. George S. Hudson 209 
which subsists principally on these unnecessary 
substances. 
The process of airing ‘‘washed” cacao 
differs somewhat from that heretofore des- 
cribed. On the morning of the day previous 
to that on which fermentation is anticipated 
to be complete (z.e., twenty-four hours earlier) 
the cacao is removed from the fermenting box 
and thoroughly washed. It is then exposed to 
the sun for a few hours, and while still slightly 
damp and heated is returned to a sweating box 
lined with large leaves and carefully covered 
until next morning, when a further fermenta- 
tion will be found to have taken place. It 
is then placed on the drying trays, when it 
will only mildew under the most adverse con- 
ditions (in which case it is again washed), and 
given good sunny weather, attains a thorough 
degree of dryness within four or five days. 
The colour of the beans is a clear, attractive 
red, and they retain their plumpness and good 
“ break.” 
Cuavep Cacao. 
This process consists of sprinkling a very 
finely powdered red earth on the seeds on or 
about the second or third day of drying and 
working it into the cacao by trampling with 
bare feet. It imparts a characteristic dull red 
uniform colour to the sample, and this appear- 
ance is recognized as being distinctive of a 
certain class of Trinidad and Venezuelan cacao. 
14 
