SHELLING AND BREAKING 141 



in the field, or, better, by selection of beans during the 

 process of shelling. Selection of a certain value may, 

 however, be carried out by sorting the beans after curing, 

 as is done by many planters. 



In preparing cacao for fermentation no beans from 

 diseased pods should be mixed with the healthy and well- 

 ripened produce, for if left with the bulk they will materially 

 alter the sample. It has been found by experiment that 

 such beans only result in cacao waste when finally cured, 

 although they may appear to the naked eye as differing 

 very little from the healthy bean. The experiment was 

 carried out with beans of this description, but not a single 

 bean of marketable description was produced from such 

 material, the beans being shrivelled and wasted and in 

 such condition as to spoil, if mixed therewith, any ordinary, 

 let alone any first-class, sample. 



Fig. 42, facing page 138, shows samples of ordinary 

 Nicaragua CrioUo (left), and ordinary estates cacao. The 

 two beans depicted between the heaps show the relative 

 sizes. The Nicaraguan bean is twice the size of the 

 ordinary Trinidad. Fig. 43, facing page 148, shows a 

 large heap of picked pods outside the plantation lines. 

 A bearer is bringing in pods to the heap by the bag 

 as a head load. Two men standing are cutting or 

 breaking pods with the cutlass. One woman is extracting 

 beans ; and a mule with panniers is loading them for 

 transit to the " sweating " house. Fig. 44 shows pickers 

 and carriers, a heap of cacao, baskets, &c. ; and the 

 breakers beginning work. Fig. 45, facing page 152, shows 

 in a typical manner the position of pods upon a tree, the 

 pods being in various stages of growth and ripeness. The 

 variety depicted is the Amelonado form of Forastero. 



