Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-12-30

ITS GROWTH, PRODUCTS AND UTILITY.

The tree from which is obtained the
cork of commerce is species of ever
green oak, growing in several of the de.
partments of France, Spain, Portugal,
Sicily, Italy and Algeria. 1t is princi-
pally cultivated, however, in Spain and
Portugal. This species of oak loses its
foliage only in the month of May, and
when the new growth of leaves is suffi-
GENTLY strong to replace the old ones of
the preceding year. lttlowers in MAJ
and its fruit is tit for gathering only in
the month of November of the next sea-
son; that is, eighteen months after flow
ering. Its acorns are less astringent
than those of other species of oaks, and
are used for fattening swine, sheep and
poultry. They are also employed TO
considerable extent in the manufacture
of certain kinds of fecula.
The cork oak tiourishes best in arid,
sandy soils, and under favorable condi-
lions reaches the height of 40 to50 feet,
with circumference of 10 to IL feet.
The trunk, from its base up TO where the
first branches begin, is to Is feet long
and it is this portion of the tree from
which is peeled the bark that constitutes
the cork of commerce. This substance,
cork" consists of the outer layer of the
bark, which by annual additions from
within, gradually becomes thick, spon-
gy mass, the rapidity of growth deter
mining the quality of the bark A quick
growth is represented by a fine grain and
light weight; - slow growth producinga
contrary effect. The bark, if allowed to
remain on the tree, becomes so fissured
and cracked as to be unfit for use.
There are two varieties of the cork bark
| known in commerce, the white and the
! black the former of these is the prod
uct of trees growing in France, and the
| latter of those cultivated in Spain. The
| white is superior to the other on account
| of its greater beauty, its smoothness, and
! greater freedom from cracksand ineq ual.
| tiles. II is Of a yellowish-gray color oil
| both surfaces and cuts Ton account of III
much finer grain) more smoothly than
the black. The operation of stripping
! the bark takes place when the trees
have attained the age of Is to 20 years
IN the month of August wnen the sap IL
IN movement, the Workmen begin by
making a transverse incision in the
| bark, just beneath the branches, and an
| other ut the base of the tree then two
| longitudinal missions are made, and the
| bark beaten on every side with the back
of an AK, in order to loosen it from the
| subjacent fiber; then by means of their
ak handles, or of levers prepared for
the purpose, they pry off the loosened
! bark, which falls to the ground in cylin-
} drical pieces. During this process the
! greatest care must be taken not To injure
| the newly formed layer of srIber or cork
| lying beneath. After collection, the
rough exterior of the bark is either rasp-
| ed off or slightly charred, then piled in
stacks and allowed to dry, during which
process IL loses one-tiith of its weight.
| III the charming process, the pores be-
| come closed up, and the cork is rendered
| denser, or receives what is technically
called "nerye." In this state, after being
| hattened, it is cut into lengths of about
four feet, and put up in bales for export.
The stripping takes place about every
ten years, the product improving with
each successive removal The opera
ton seems 10 be beneficial to the tree
COR if the bark be allowed to remain on
it naturally, the cork oak rarely lives
| longer than 80 or 90 years; if, on the
contrary, 1t be removed periodically, the
tree continues to flourish from 100 to
| $50 years. The first product is of n
rough, woody nature, and useful only III
rustic work or as n tanning material
| The second stripping is also Of coarse
nature and useful only for floats for nets
water conduits, and such purposes.
| The economic uses to which cork is
applied are mucn too numerous to pass
| in review; it wlh be sufficient to speak
of one only, that of the manufacture of
shoppers. For the purpose of stopping
| M inG Gnrl nEpI
nearly the end of the seventeenth CEN
Jury. Many substitutes have been pro-
posed, but except in the case Of aerated
| liquids none of these have been gener-
ally employed. In the manufacture Of
| bottle corls, the bark is cut up into
| slips, which by means of a guage are
made narrow or wide, according to the
size of the cork or bungs wanted. The
slips are then cut into squares or quar-
| tcrs," which are trimmed into the re-
CURED shape by means of very long
thin knife, kept very sharp. In this OPP
Grafton the knife is kept immovable
while the cork is drawn over the edge
by the workmen. The corks are then
| thrown into baskets, and sorted ont ac-
cording to size by women and children.
/ Cork cutting in Catalonia and the South
of France furnishes a livelihood for a
considerable portion of the population
| of these districts. Several attempts
have been made to cut corks by machin.
erv, but they have not been successful
| in suspending hand labor which is con-
paratively cheap abroad. The machine
principally used for this purpose was
exhibited in operation at the Paris Ex-
hbition; it was worked by woman,
l..r cd a M n4iIpni-
~ carving out his corks with the usual
L.; COY anita 90 ,,nntl,. nnl nearly aR rap-