2-979-641 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

A Bocan, or Cocoa-Drying House in Granada, 1857. '...building used for...drying and preparing the coffee and cocoa...[It] has a platform or terrace extending its whole length on that side most exposed to the sun. The...two floors - the upper one being used for coffee; the lower one for cocoa...are divided by partitions of open lathwork...to allow of a free current of air through every part. The apartment used for drying the cocoa is provided with immense shallow trays...on metal wheels. These are made to pass through apertures constructed in the main wall, so as to be rolled out on to the platform...The pips of the cocoa, having been cleared of all extraneous substances...are carefully spread out upon these trays, and exposed daily to the sun until thoroughly dried, when, having been sorted and picked, they are packed in bags for shipment'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.