134 METHODS OF FERMENTATION 



the centre pulp. The waste is thrown round the trees 

 and acts as manure, while the beans are removed to the 

 fermenting cistern. It takes from five to nine days to 

 ferment the cocoa properly, and it is then ready for 

 washing. As with coffee, it is trampled first with the 

 feet and then removed in baskets and carefully hand- 

 washed. Watt (Dictionary of the Economic Products of 

 India). 



Ceylon. — To encourage proper fermentation in this 

 country the fresh cocoa beans are either made into piles 

 upon the fioor or are placed in vessels and covered with 

 banana leaves or some similar material. 



To prevent the undue rise of temperature in the beans 

 and to ensure all the beans being uniformly fermented 

 they are turned every day or two. 



The period of fermentation varies in accordance with 

 the variety under treatment from two to five days. 

 It has already been shown that CroUo and Forastero 

 varieties are often found growing mixed together in the 

 same plantation in Ceylon. When the beans of these 

 different varieties are not separated it is impossible to 

 obtain a uniformly fermented product. At the Experi- 

 ment Station, Peradeniya, a series of tanks, lined with 

 cement, has been made ; on two sides of each tank 

 are a large number of holes with an average diameter 

 of 7" 3 cm. (3 in.). Through each hole a perforated 

 bamboo is pushed, the latter being of such a length as to 

 stretch from one side of the tank to the other. By this 

 means air can be let into or drawn through the fermentirg 

 heap, according to requirements. The floor is made 

 with a slope to one point, where a perforated sieve is 

 placed, to allow the watery products of fermentation to 

 escape. 



The writer tried cement tanks as cocoa fermenting 

 receptacles in the Gold Coast, but found that the acid 

 exudations from the fermenting beans acted upon the 

 cement and destroyed the walls and floor. 



Guam. — In regard to cocoa fermentation in this country, 

 according to Safford {Useful Plants of Guam, U.S. National 

 Museum, 1908) : The cocoa beans are sometimes placed 

 in jars and allowed to " sweat," or undergo a sort of 

 fermentation, which improves their flavour. Some 

 growers, after having dried the beans in the sun, keep 



