Mr. George S. Hudson 211 
the surface. of the seed skin by applying 
considerable friction to the mass of cacao. 
To obviate crushing and to allow the seeds 
to glide easily over each other they are slightly 
damped by sprinkling water on them just 
previous to polishing. One pint of water per 
hundredweight should be ample. The opera- 
tion of dancing is sometimes, performed on the 
flat surface of drying trays, or on a floor in the 
drying house, when in addition to the ‘dancers ” 
it is necessary to have other attendants to 
continuously sweep back the cacao under the 
feet of the polishers. A more economical way 
is to utilize some receptacle with curved, bowl- 
like sides so that the cacao automatically falls 
back under the ‘“dancers’” feet; for this 
purpose the old-fashioned Muscovado sugar 
boiling iron ‘‘tayche” is remarkably well 
suited and is much in favour. The labour 
involved before the seeds attain a good 
‘‘sloss” is rather tiring, as each batch of 
cacao of say 2 cwt. will take two men half 
an hour or longer to polish. On many estates 
it is performed. by “task” work at the rate 
of 3d. to 4d. per bag of 180 Ib. (dry weight), 
and then, of course, the work proceeds, more 
expeditiously, but there is every temptation to 
add too much water to quickly attain a fictitious 
polish which is not retained permanently. The 
gloss should proceed from the ruptured cells 
permeating the seed skin, and giving it a 
darker, shiny, and much improved appearance 
