ASPHALTE FLOORING. 85 
na The publisher appends some papers which have 
previously seen the light in the Observer and elsewhere, 
and which contain information of special service to 
planters :-— 
ASPHALTE FLOORING, 
(From the Overland Observer, 30th April 1863.) 
A correspondent sends us a paper containing ‘‘ Notes 
upon the Laying of Asphalte Floors,” which he has no 
doubt will be interesting and useful to many in Cey- 
lon :— 
The first requisite in laying down asphalte floor- 
ing is @ boiler, made of either cast or malleable iron. 
Any size may do, but the larger it is, the greater will 
be the surface covered at one melting, and the fewer, 
therefore, the joints or seams upon the finished floor. 
The tools required are—a light malleable iron stirrer, 
for mixing the sand and bitumen in the boiler; a few 
sheet iron cans with which to carry the melted ma. 
terial irom the boiler to the floor ; a strong sheet-iron 
ladle, for filing it into the cans; a few iron or wooden 
straight-edges, to form the boundary of the asphalte 
fiag when being laid; a narrow wooden spreader for 
spreading out the asphalte when poured upon the 
broken metal ; and two or three wooden rubbers (some- 
thing like plasterers’ floats) for rubbing up the surface 
of the flag as it cools and hardens, 
In commencing an asphalte floor, the first thing 
is to satisfy yourself the bottom is firm. [If it is not, 
then ram it well down before laying on the broken 
road metal. Next, if the metal itselfis not carefully 
beat over the surface, no care afterwards will ever make 
good asphalte out of it. The stones must lie pretty 
close, and the surface be made level and even. : 
For cart or any other sort of heavy traffic, double 
coat work is absolutely necessary, and may be pro- 
eeeded with as follows :—Dig out the ground to within 
four inches of what is to form the surface of the fin- 
ished fioor. Spread in from three to three and-a-haif 
inches of broken metal, and ram it slightly and evenly 
over the surface. Metal composed of one to one-and-a- 
half inch stones, and free from dirt or sand, forms 
the best floor. Smooth boulders or pebbles never do 
so well. Have a boilerful of soft bitumen pr-pared, 
and, when thoroughly melted, add about half its own 
- weight of thoroughly dried sand or fine gravel, and 
stir well, till all be intimately mixed. This half-gray- 
elled stuff won’t be very viscid, and must be ladled, 
therefore, into asphalte cans that wen’t leak, and 
poured from thence into the broken metal, one canful 
after another, till it fills up all the interstices, and 
nearly flushes the stones, Mam all well down as the 
ze 
