82 COCOA 



stretch, but we have been so interested in all we 

 have seen that we do not think of feeling tired until 

 our host suggests we must be wanting lunch and 

 a rest. 



On our way to lunch, we pass through spacious 

 rooms in which centres are made for fancy chocolates, 

 centres are covered with chocolate, and miniature 

 cakes of plain and milk chocolate, known as Bourn-' 

 ville Neapolitans, are wrapped in paper and tinfoil by 

 a little-marvel machine. En route to lunch, too, we 

 begin to get more closely in touch with the social side 

 of the Bournville enterprise. We pass through the 

 Girls' Dining-room. Over two thousand women and 

 girls are having a meal in a cool and airy hall ; every- 

 thing is so clean that, in popular language, you could 

 eat off the floor. From the menu boards on the walls, 

 we gather that choice can be made from a wide variety 

 of fare, and that two substantial courses of meat, 

 vegetables, and pudding cost about a shilling. Help- 

 ings are liberal, and the food is of best quality, nicely 

 cooked, and served in an appetizing way. The Staff 

 Dining-room, where we do full justice to an excellent 

 lunch, has all the advantages of a first-class restaurant 

 without the customary drawbacks of high prices, bustle, 

 and clatter. The Works' dining-rooms play an im- 

 portant part in the Bournville social system; besides 

 those we have seen, there are equally comfortable ones 

 for the men, forewomen, foremen, and clerks. All the 

 dining-rooms are served from a large and fully-equipped 

 kitchen. The workers can bring their own food if they 

 like, and cook it in a special kitchen. On an average 

 3,570 meals are provided daily for the workpeople, 

 or orer a. million a year, and these figures do not 



