]

[Illustration--Drawing: "ON ARRIVAL AT THE FACTORY".]

Up to this point the operations described have taken place in the
lands where cacao is produced. To watch the further processes in its
development as an article of food, let us in imagination follow one of
the shiploads of cacao on its sea journey from the far tropics to one
of the countries of the old world, until the sacks of beans are
finally deposited at a cocoa factory. An English factory, that of
Messrs. Cadbury, at Bournville, affords an excellent illustration of
its manufacture, not only because about a third of all the beans
imported into this country are treated there, but also because this
treatment is effected amid ideal surroundings. Half a century ago
Messrs. Cadbury Brothers employed but a dozen or twenty hands, and
until within the last twenty-six years the firm was established in the
town of Birmingham. The need for greater accommodation for the rapidly
growing business, and a desire to secure improved conditions for the
work-people, led to the removal of the factory to a distance of about
four miles south of the city. A number of cottages erected for the
work-people in those early days became the nucleus of a great scheme
which in the last few years has expanded into the model village of
Bournville, a name taken from the neighbouring Bourn stream. Year by
year the factory grew and developed, until the green hay-fields, with
the trout stream flowing through them, became gradually covered with
buildings. To-day the factory seems like a small town in itself,
intersected by streets, and surrounded by its own railway. But the
greenness of the country clings wherever a chance is afforded, ivy and
other creepers adorning the brick walls, window boxes bright with
flowers, and trees planted here and there; for no opportunity has been
neglected of making the surroundings beautiful.

[Illustration--Black and White Plate: Bournville Cocoa Works: Office
Buildings.]

Taking train from the city, glimpses can be caught, as we near our
destination, of the pretty houses and gardens of the village, forming
a great contrast to the densely populated district of Stirchley on the
other side of the line. Stepping on to the station, we are greeted by
a whiff of the most delicious fragrance, which is quite enough of
itself to betray the whereabouts of the great factory lying beneath
us, of which from this point we have a fairly good bird's-eye view.
Down the station