! The planter trusts to nature to provide the right kind of
fermentation. This fermentation is set up and carried on by the minute
organisms (yeasts, bacteria, etc.), which chance to fall on the beans
from the air or come from the sides of the receptacle. One yeast-cell
does not make a fermentation, and as no yeast is added a day is wasted
whilst any yeasts which happen to be present are multiplying to an army
large enough to produce a visible effect on the pulp. _Any_ organism
which happens to be on the pod, in the air, or on the inside of the
fermentary will multiply in the pulp, if the pulp contains suitable
nourishment. Each kind of organism produces its own characteristic
changes. It would thus appear a miracle if the same substances were
always produced. Yet, just as grape-juice left exposed to every
micro-organism of the air, generally changes in the direction of wine
more or less good, so the pulp of cacao tends, broadly speaking, to
ferment in one way. It would, however, be a serious error to assume that
exactly the same kind of fermentation takes place in any two
fermentaries in the world, and the maximum variation must be
considerable. As the pulp ferments, it is destroyed; it gradually
changes from white to brown, and a liquid ("sweatings") flows away from
it. The "_sweatings_" taste like sweet cider. At present this is allowed
to run away through holes in the bottom of the box, and no care is taken
to preserve what may yet become a valuable by-product. I found by
experiment that in the preparation of one cwt. of dry beans about 1-1/2
gallons of this unstable liquid are produced. In other words, some seven
or eight million gallons of "sweatings" run to waste every year. In most
cases only small quantities are produced in one place at one time. This,
and the lack of knowledge of scientifically controlled fermentation,
and the difficulty of bottling, prevent the starting of an industry
producing either a new drink or a vinegar. The cacao juice or
"sweatings" contains about fifteen per cent. of solids, about half of
which consists of sugars. If the fermentation of the cacao were
centralised in the various districts, and conducted on a large scale
under a chemist's control, the sugars could be obtained, or an alcoholic
liquid or a vinegar could easily be prepared.

[Illustration: CHARGING THE CACAO ON TO TRUCKS IN THE PLANTATION, SAN
THOME.]

[Illustration: CACAO IN THE FERMENTING TRUCKS, SAN THOME.
The coveri