i6 Journal of Agriculture. [8 Jan., 1908. 



has, however, made the position different. The accompanying illustration is 

 reproduced from a photograph of the cab yard at Spencer-street Railway 

 Station, which has been recently transformeci from a muddy, uneven, and 

 dirty surface to its present hard, smooth, clean, and attractive appearance 

 b) the adoption of this new paving. It would appear to be very suitable 

 for dairy farms and other similar purposes, because of its evenness, 

 absence of joints, and impervious nature. It forms one mass pavement, 

 and the formation of gutters, grips, and other drains, is made in the 

 material itself. The material has a foundation of cement concrete, and 

 upon this is laid a top coating of patent "Granolithic"; this, when 

 hardened and chemically treated, is of such extreme toughness, that it 

 wdl carry over its surface tlie heaviest and fastest vehicular traffic, as the 

 illustration shows, without any wearing or cracking of the surface. Its 

 advantage over brick paving is thus apparent; even, hard surface, abso- 

 lutelv impervious, no surface joints, or liability of cracking, and no 

 rendencx for cows to slip on same, the whole floor from tying post across 

 grips, passage, &c., to tying post on the other side being formed in one 

 even, complete surface. The cement concrete could, for economical pur- 

 poses be composed of broken bricks, gravel, or other such material, in 

 places where crushed bluestone is not available. The " Granolithic " 

 coating is laid by special skilled men in the employ of the Granolithic 

 Paving Company, Melbourne, w^ho can furnish information as to prices, 

 &c. It is understood that this material has been largely used by the 

 dairv farmers of Western Australia, and has given uniformly successful 

 results. It would appear to Ije an ideal paving for farm purposes 

 and butter factories, and of decided advantage in securing the most sani- 

 tarv and permanent results. 



It would be difficult to conceive of anything more suitable for farm 

 use, not only the milking shed, but the yard surfaces, stables, etc., paved 

 v/ith " Granolithic,'' would be practicalK- perfect, and for use as paving 

 and lining of butter factories, creameries, cool stores, piggeries, etc., it 

 would be certaiynly more efiicient than the more costly tiling usually 

 adopted. It is difficult to give an exact idea of the cost of a proprietary 

 process, the details of which are a secret, but as a guide, it may be stated 

 that paving in the vicinity of Melbourne should be laid bv the Companv 

 for not more than 7s. per square yard or as low as 5s. if the farmer sup- 

 plies the gra\el for the cement concrete layer. 



TRAiNSPLANTING TOBACCO PLANTS. 



T. A. J. Smith, Tobacco Expert. 



Many tobacco- growers are not aware of the fact that efficient machinery 

 can be obtained for the purpose of transiplanting the young plants in the 

 field after their removal from the plant beds. The question of getting 

 suitable labour for this |x>rtion of the work is becoming more and more 

 serious ; higher wages have to be paid at the present time than was the 

 case a few years ago, and in many cases, the difficulty in procuring suitable 

 hands for pulling out the plants has had the effect of limiting the area of 

 tobacco fields to a considerable extent. 



Transplanting by hand is natural Iv a slow process and the work tedious 

 and tiring. The machine obviates these difficulties to a wonderful extent, 

 the w'ork being reduced to a minimum and is done better than by hand. 

 The old system necessitated a man going ahead of the planter with a hoe 



