Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-07-19
Ihice sOles of Chinese shoes have for ages

thice soles of Chinese shoes have for ages
been made of this material.
Improvements in the machinery for cut
ting it have enabled slices the l24th part
of an inch thick to be cut from the block.
| and these thin veneerings have been used
to advantage in the manufacture of hats
and many other articles, while the shaw
ings of cork and the sawdust from the
material mixed with oil form a component
part of several floor coverings. As floats
for nets, cork has long been used. While
| IN dry and powdered condition it makes
the best possible stufing for mattresses,
and these on board ship are invaluable for
life preservers.
The value of cork was as we'll known to
the ancients as to ourselves. Pliny speaks
| of cork jackets" by which, as he states,
| those inexperienced in swimming could
| fioat on the water as readily as the most
clever expert, while its use for the soles of
shoes or of sandals was more common in
ancient times than to-day, for the lightness
| OF the material enabled it to be worn be-
meath the feet with little trouble, and
! diminutive Roman belle had but to put an
| inch of cork beneath her sandals to in
| crease her apparent height.
In countries where the cork tree is indi-
genous, the slabs of bark are used in many
ways which seem extremely novel TO US
who are accustomed to regard it as scarce
| and hlgh-prlced product. In Spain bee hives
| are made of it, while the French forester,
Just north of the Pyrenees, EMPLOYS it to
make cups, buckets and even plates. In
Lombardy it is used in the ornamental
parts OF buildings, and even of churches,
while the Turks and the Algerians, by
| slicing the bark thin, can employ it to
shingle their houses, while in other forms
it is used in the manufacture of saddles. of
boats, and in a variety of other ways.
| When proper climate is found. the
only serious difficulty encountered in rails.
ing cork trees Is at the start. 1t has been
found that the acorns soon lose their vital
ity, and transportation even from Spain to
Australia renders them worthless But nc
such difficulty is encountered in the young
plants, which are hardy. and the English
Government has sent many thousands d
these from the mountain districts of Port
ugal to the warmer quarters of the island
continent, where the cork industry is al
ready matter of some importance.
The use of the cork is probably in it:
infancy, for so little attention does the
tree require after it has once begun to grow
SO valuable is the product and so certain
the crop, that great deal of land which
otherwise is worthless, might proftably be
set apart for the growth of the cork k-tree
1t has succeeded in Southern California
and in several parts of Arizona and New
Mexico the acorns have been planted, tn.
trees attaining considerable size. Not
enough time has elapsed, however, for
crop of bark to be formed on these new
plantations, so it is impossible to say with
what measure of success the experiment
will be greeted. However, aside from the
cork, the interior bark of the tree is an
invaluable tanning material and the wooc
Is as good as that of any other kind O
oak, and 1t is by no means impossible, mol
even improbable, that many of the bar,
mountain sides of New Mexico may vet be
covered with this precious plant, and tha
the United States may, fifty or seventy-hys
years hence, be producing within its owr
limits all the cork needed for home con
sumption. 1t has been found to grow wei
In parts of Mexico and Central America
where the conditions of climate do no,
greatly differ from those existing in the
southern parts of the United States, so such
an outlook for the future of the cork in
dustry in this country is by no mean.
chimerical.