The Cultivation of Cocoa. 17 
The wet or fresh cocoa is passed into the first com- 
partment, where it is left for 12 hours, is then trans- 
ported to the second compartment (being turned at the 
same time), where it remains for 24 hours, and is then 
spread out on the "droogery" to dry. This " droogery" 
is a large tile pavement, higher in the centre than at the 
sides, to get rid of any water as soon as possible. The 
small grower, who has to deal with only a few baskets 
of beans, throws them into a trench in a dry place and 
covers them with green plantain leaves, in which posi- 
tion they soon ferment ; after a little experience, the 
heat felt in plunging the arm into the mass, gives warn- 
ing when the fermentation has proceeded far enough. 
The after process is exactly the same as on the large scale. 
Generally the fermenting shed stands on one side of 
the pavement, the drying-store on the other; so that 
one passes directly from the store or the shed to the 
platform. The size depends on the acreage in cultivation. 
The first and second day, the cocoa is allowed to remain in 
the sun only till noon, when it is brought into the store and 
put in heaps. It ferments again slightly with the result of 
making the beans more uniformly round; a few hours 
after having been brought into the store, the heap is 
turned, to prevent too strong fermentation, and left till 
next morning. On the 3rd and 4th day the cocoa is 
exposed nine hours to the sun ; it is then spread out 
in the drying store and left there from 5 to 8 days, being 
turned daily. This must not be neglected, for unless 
the cocoa is quite dry and cool when packed it becomes 
mouldy. The cocoa is now cured, and ready to be put 
in bags for shipment. The fermentation of the crops 
C 
