176 CACAO 



in bad weather. Such combinations are, however, not in 

 great favour, and not one drying house in a hundred is 

 as yet supplied with artificial heat. 



The capacity of floors for drying purposes may be 

 estimated at eighty square feet of floor surface to every 

 thousand trees, but less on larger estates. One thousand 

 trees may be taken as affording an annual crop of ten to 

 fifteen bags of cacao of 165 lb. each, the crop varying in 

 accordance with the condition of the trees, cultivation 

 afforded, and fertility of the soil. The loss of weight during 

 the fermentation and curing process has been already 

 discussed in previous pages. Wright, in his work, shows 

 that our figures agree generally with the results obtained 

 on Ceylon estates. 



Merchants^ drying floors. — These floors are maintained 

 near to warehouses at the place of shipment. In all 

 respects they are similarly constructed to those in use by 

 planters. They are used for finishing samples brought in 

 imperfectly cured, and for mixing and equalising or grading 

 lots brought into the local market by small growers, in 

 which there is a considerable trade, it being estimated 

 that at least one-third of the exported cacao of Trinidad 

 is produced by them. Numbers of estates also sell in the 

 local market and the practice is increasing, but many large 

 and well-known estates still continue to ship on their own 

 account under standard marks. 



On the merchants' floors the several purchases are graded 

 into their various classes to suit the market under dis- 

 tinctive names such as " Fine Estates," " Good Ordinary," 

 " Good Fair," " Middling," &c. &c., and many others. 



In some establishments a considerable amount of 

 artificial colouring is given to the exterior of the beans, 

 but as cacao is seldom purchased, except under close 

 examination of the character of the interior of the beans, 

 it does not seriously affect prices, although it is maintained 

 that a manipulated sample of even colour will bring slightly 

 higher prices than a sample clearly showing its mixed 

 character at sight. 



