is not sufficiently exposed to the sun, it becomes mouldy; if too
much, it withers, and easily pulverises--in either case it soon rots.

When the quantity of cacao gathered is considerable, it is placed in
the sunshine by a hundred quintals at a time, unless the cultivator
has a sufficient number of persons employed to expose a greater
quantity. This operation is indispensable, to prevent it from becoming
mouldy. If the rains prevent this exposure to the sun, it is
necessary, as soon as it is sufficiently cleaned or purified, to
spread it in apartments, galleries, or halls, with which the
plantation must be provided; this operation cannot be delayed without
danger of losing the crop.

It is to be wished that stoves were employed to dry the cacao when the
sun fails, but this expedient, so simple and important, is generally
unknown.

It is almost universally believed that the most essential precautions
for preserving the cacao consists in gathering it at the decline of
the moon. I believe that they may more seriously calculate on the care
of depositing it in apartments so hermetically closed that the air
cannot penetrate; it would be advisable to make these apartments of
wood, for the more perfect exclusion of moisture. The floor should be
elevated two feet; under the floor a pan of coals is placed, covered
with a funnel, the point of which enters into the heap of cacao and
then diffuses the vapor. In the apartment which contains the cacao,
some persons place bottles of vinegar, slightly stopped with paper, to
prevent the formation of worms.

The beans which begin to show specks, may be preserved from entire