182 R. T. BAKER AND J. NANGLE. 



view of the modern machinery that has been installed by 

 the trade for quarrying, cutting, and polishing, and the 

 utilisation of the output by the architectural world of the 

 Commonwealth, it is hoped these results will be of assist- 

 ance to those working in this sphere of applied science. 

 There can be no question that there is a great future 

 before the whole industry, for the value of the imported 

 article in 1908 alone amounted to over £20,000. 



In the matter of quality, durability and colour, the 

 majority of our stones must be ranked as first class. The 

 grey granites of Uralla, Trial Bay, and many others are 

 certainly equal in hardness and colour to the best Scottish, 

 whilst our marbles as shown by our tests are much harder 

 than those imported, and at the same time possess a 

 remarkable variety of colours. 



The two most important qualities necessary in building 

 stones are: — 1. Colour, 2. Durability. 



1. Colour.— Colour is an all important feature in the 

 selection, for when any particular stone is mentioned it is 

 almost certain to be asked what is the colour? — a character 

 that is almost invariably due to the presence of certain 

 minerals. Our granites vary in degree of colour and may 

 be classified generally as red and grey, both fine and coarse 

 grained, and when the presence of a particular mineral is 

 sufficiently large to retain its distinctive colour it is then 

 applied to the whole, as for instance, Tenterfield, Barren 

 Jack, Mudgee and Gabo red granites where the flesh 

 coloured felspar crystals predominate. Our grey granites 

 present many shades of these tints and give a splendid 

 choice to the architect to satisfy his ideals of harmony 

 or contrast. 



The great advantage of granite over marble is, that 

 its colour is practically constant from the quarry to its 

 final disintegration, and is never subject or liable to dis- 



