new villages thereon. A most important feature is, that although the
rents are calculated to yield a fair return on the cost, including a
proportion of development expenses, they are so low that a five-roomed
cottage with bath and every convenience can be had for the rent of a
two-roomed hovel in the slums. About two-fifths of the householders
find employment in the cocoa works, the rest in the adjoining villages
or in Birmingham.

[Illustration--Black and White Plate: Almshouse Quadrangle, Bournville.]

The gardens are a special feature, and before the houses are let, they
are laid out by the Trust, and planted with fruit trees. All are well
worked, and an average yield in vegetables and fruit of nearly two
shillings a week has been found possible, equivalent to something like
£60 an acre--more than twelve times as much food as would be produced
if under pasturage. Two professional gardeners, with several men under
them, are employed to look after the gardening department, and they
are always ready to give any information or advice required by the
tenants, so that the cottage gardens may be cultivated to the utmost
profit. At present the public buildings consist of a village inn and
baths; a school is shortly to be erected. Building is being steadily
proceeded with, and although the development of the estate may be
somewhat slow at first, it will advance with growing rapidity as the
revenue increases. No wonder that there is an omnipresent air of
comfort and prosperity, or that the death-rate is only about eight per
thousand, in comparison with nineteen in the neighbouring city.

No description of Bournville would be complete without a mention of
its picturesque alms-houses. Here a haven of rest is provided for
some of those who, in their best years, have rendered faithful service