allow the air to
circulate more freely and expose a greater surface of the bean to the
action of oxygen. Since the liquids in all living matter presumably
contain some dissolved oxygen, the problem is to account for the fact
that the tannin in the unfermented bean remains unoxidised, whilst that
in the fermented bean is easily oxidised. The above affords a partial
explanation, and seems fairly satisfactory when taken with my previous
suggestion, namely, that during fermentation the bean is rendered
pervious to water, which, on distributing itself throughout the bean,
dissolves the isolated masses of tannin and diffuses it evenly, so that
it encounters and becomes mixed with the enzymes. From this it will be
evident that the major part of the oxidation of the tannin occurs during
drying, and hence the importance of this, both from the point of view of
the keeping properties of the cacao, and its colour, taste and aroma.

It will be realised from the above that there is still a vast amount of
work to be done before the chemist will be in a position to obtain the
more desirable aromas and flavours. Having found the necessary
conditions, scientifically trained overseers will be required to produce
them, and for this they will need to have under their direction
arrangements for fermentation designed on correct principles and
allowing some degree of control. Whilst improvements are always possible
in the approach to perfection, it must be admitted that, considering the
means at their disposal, the planters produce a remarkably fine product.

[Illustration: FOR DRYING SMALL QUANTITIES.
A simple tray-barrow, which can be run under the house when rain comes
on.]

_Loss on Fermenting and Drying._

The fermented cacao is conveyed from the fermentary to the drying trays
or floors. The planter often has some rough check-weighing system. Thus,
for example, he notes the number of standard baskets of wet cacao put
into the fermentary, and he measures the fermented cacao produced with
the help of a bottomless barrel. By this means he finds that on
fermentation the beans lose weight by the draining away of the
"sweatings," according to the amount and juiciness of the pulp round
them. The beans are still very wet, and on drying lose a high percentage
of their moisture by evaporation before the cacao bean of commerce is
obtained.

The average losses may be tabulated thus:

Weight of wet cacao from pod 100
Loss on ferm