RISE OF TEMPERATURE IN SHELLED SEEDS 119 



save much labour when the cured beans are being graded 

 for market. 



Necessity for Expediting Transport of Beans from the 

 Plantation to the Fermenting-House. — ^When the freshly 

 extracted beans are bulked, fermentation soon com- 

 mences, and especially during hot, damp weather. It is 

 therefore necessary to convey them to the fermenting- 

 house as soon as possible in order to prevent fermentation 

 occurring in the plantation. To enable this to be effected 

 the labour force should be so organised that the work of 

 collecting the fruits, extracting the beans, and trans- 

 porting them to the fermenting -house proceeds unin- 

 terruptedly. 



If at the end of the day it is found impossible to place 

 all the beans extracted in the f ermenting-boxes before the 

 next day, these should not be mixed with those extracted 

 on the following day, as fermentative changes almost 

 invariably will have commenced in them. On one occa- 

 sion in San Thome the writer found that the temperature 

 of a heap of beans which had been left in the plantation 

 for twenty-four hours had risen 7° Fahr. during that 

 period. 



The actual records taken were as follows : 



At one estate the writer visited in San Thome a fruit - 

 breaking machine (manufactured by Masson, New York) 

 was in operation. It appeared to be serviceable, but so 

 many difficulties were experienced in moving it about 

 the plantation that it is extremely doubtful whether it 

 will replace hand labour. The manager was of the 

 opinion that its cost did not justify its employment. 



Decauville Railways. — On large cocoa estates the trans- 

 port of the beans to the fermenting-house is extremely 

 costly, even when wagons or carts, drawn by horses, 

 mules, or bullocks, are employed. 



Aerial ropeways, similar to those used on Ceylon tea 

 estates for conveying the freshly plucked Igeif to the 



