DRYING APPARATUS, ETC. 173 



The object of the " dancing " and " poUshing " is to 

 seal up as far as practicable all possible cracks or orifices, &c., 

 leading to the interior of the bean, in order to exclude the 

 spores or germs of fungi ; it is used frequently in bad 

 weather to destroy or hinder development of the growth 

 of fungi on the exterior of the bean, and it strengthens 

 the shell or rind of the bean, and preserves it from cracking 

 during transit to market. In some countries I am fully 

 aware this is considered a " dirty process," and washing 

 is preferred. Trinidad planters find that it pays, and as 

 they do no washing they may be regarded by some as 

 dirty, NHmporte, the money comes in ! 



By the courtesy of the inventors the author is able to 

 give a brief description of two inventions for polishing 

 cacao, a process hitherto generally performed by hand, as 

 described on the preceding page. 



Barnard's patent cacao polishier, of which Fig. 54, 

 facing page 172, is an illustration, consists of a cylinder 

 made of wood or iron. A shaft is adapted to pass through 

 the hollow trunnions. One trunnion is provided with a 

 driving pulley, whilst the shaft is provided with another 

 pulley, and they are driven in opposite directions and at 

 different speeds. The shaft is fitted with a number of 

 eccentrics, to which heavily weighted jointed rubber feet 

 or pedals are attached, to give a rocking motion as the 

 eccentrics rise and fall, so as not to bruise the beans. The 

 pedals do not come within 2 in. of the cylinder or casing, 

 and are spaced sufficiently far apart to allow the cacao to 

 stir about freely. The cylinder is driven at the rate of 

 ten revolutions per minute, and the shaft at sixty to eighty. 

 At this rate a machine in operation (a four-pedal machine) 

 polishes 250 lb. of cacao in ten to twelve minutes. Smaller 

 machines of the same type to be driven by hand-gear 

 and worked by one man have been arranged for by the 

 patentees. 



The " Malins-Smith " cacao-polishing machine, depicted 

 by Fig. 55 on page 175, consists of a rotary cylinder 

 containing a series of agitating rods which are placed 



