s. The full advantage of these is
lost if the temperature used is high enough to kill the enzymes, or if
the drying is too rapid, both of which may occur with artificial drying.

[5] Dr. Paul Preuss, _Le cacao. Culture et Preparation_.

Sun-drying is done on cement or brick floors, on coir mats or trays, or
on wooden platforms. In order to dry the cacao uniformly it is raked
over and over in the sun. It must be tenderly treated, carefully
"watched and caressed," until the interior becomes quite crisp and in
colour a beautiful brown.

Sometimes the platforms are built on the top of the fermentaries, the
cacao being conveyed through a hole in the roof of the fermentary to the
drying platform.

[Illustration: "HAMEL-SMITH" ROTARY DRYER.
(Made by Messrs. David Bridge and Co., Manchester).

The receiving cylinders, six in number, are filled approximately
three-quarters full with the cacao to be dried. These are then placed in
position on the revolving framework, which is enclosed in the casing and
slowly revolved. The cylinders are fitted with baffle plates, which
gently turn over the cacao beans at each revolution so that even drying
throughout is the result. The casing is heated to the requisite
temperature by means of a special stove, the arrangement of which is
such as to allow the air drawn from the outside to circulate around the
stove and to pass into the interior of the casing containing the drying
cylinders. The fumes from the fuel do not in any way come in contact
with the material during drying.]

[Illustration: DRYING PLATFORMS, TRINIDAD, WITH SLIDING ROOFS.]

In Trinidad the platform always has a sliding roof, which can be pulled
over the cacao in the blaze of noon or when a rainstorm comes on. In
other places, sliding platforms are used which can be pushed under cover
in wet weather.

_The Washing of Cacao._

In Java, Ceylon and Madagascar before the cacao is dried, it is first
washed to remove all traces of pulp. This removal of pulp enables the
beans to be more rapidly dried, and is considered almost a necessity in
Ceylon, where sun-drying is difficult. The practice appears at first
sight wholly good and sanitary, but although beans so treated have a
very clean and bright appearance, looking not unlike almonds, the
practice cannot be recommended. There is a loss of from 2 to 10 per
cent. in weight, which is a disadvantage to the planter, whilst from the
manufacturer's point of view, washing