SIMPLE FERMENTING CHAMBERS 133 



with a lid. The compartments are two-thirds filled with 

 cocoa beans, and when these have been well covered up 

 with banana leaves the lid is closed. After one or two 

 days have elapsed the beans are changed to another box ; 

 the same procedure is followed until fermentation is 

 completed. The period of fermentation of different 

 Forastero varieties is said to vary between eight and 

 foiu'teen days. 



The length of time occupied in fermenting the CrioUo 

 varieties in Trinidad is said to vary between two and five 

 days. 



Jamaica. — The following instructions for the fermenta- 

 tion of cocoa have been issued to Jamaica planters by the 

 Botanical Department in that island {Bulletin, Botanical 

 Department, Jamaica, August 1900). "A simple box is 

 made 1 ft. deep and varying in length and width accord- 

 ing to the quantity of the cocoa ; the contents of 1,000 

 fruits requires a box 2 ft. 6 in. long, 2 ft. wide, and 1 ft. 

 deep (inside measurements) and wUl fill such a box to a 

 depth of 9 in. It must be constructed so that no iron 

 nails come in contact with the cocoa to discolour it. 



" The bottom of the box is bored with numerous holes 

 and is raised from the ground on two blocks of wood. It 

 should be under cover and in a clean place, free from 

 dust ; no lid is required. After filling with cocoa it is 

 covered with a piece of clean sacking. Each morning 

 the whole mass is turned up with the hands, the cocoa 

 which was at the side and bottom being moved towards 

 the centre. If the quantity is small, it is dried on the 

 fifth day ; if larger (say over 2,000 fruits), on the sixth 

 day, i.e. after five full days' ' sweating.' The box should 

 be thoroughly washed and dried, and also the sacking, 

 before beginning a fresh batch . Thus by a short fermenta- 

 tion of a shallow mass, with plentiful access of air, better 

 results will be obtained than by keeping the mass closely 

 packed together in a deeper vessel. The close packing 

 of the mass does not make it hotter ; on the contrary 

 the more air that reaches the mass, up to a certain limit, 

 the hotter the cocoa will become. It is usually inad- 

 visable to ferment for a longer time, but on the other 

 hand a shorter time endangers the risk of the cocoa 

 retaining too much of its bitter flavour." 



India. — The coolie dexterously strips all the beans off 



