Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-07-19
CORKs AND CoRK.rRREs.
--A-a Ias
PRECIOUS FORESTS WHICH PRODUCE
MATERIAL FOR SHOPPERS.

PRECIOUS FORESTS WHICH PRODUCE
MATERIAL FOR SHOPPERS.
How the Cork is Grown and Harvested
Difficulties in Preparing the
Cork for Market.
Many as are the kinds of wood used for
mechanical purposes, there is but one, and
ii not properly wood, but bark, which
can be employed for the purpose of stop
ping bottles. Its employment for this
purpose dates only from the past 800
years, for before that time wine and other
liquors were kept in casks or jars, from
which large quantities were drawn at
time. But after the invention of glass
bottles it became the fashion to employ
them for the use Of winters, and as the
packages were small, the whole contents of
bottle might be consumed at sitting,
and thus the small flask was great con-
venience. At first the bottles were stopped
with tow dipped in pitch, then with pieces
of wood, and finally with the bark of the
cork-tree, and in spite of numberless in
ventions and devices to supersede it, this
substance has retained its popularity.
The cork tree is sort of oak, growing
20 to 50 feet in height, ana with beauti,
full evergreen foliage. 1t grows most lux
urianlty, and produces the best bark in
Portugal, the mountains of Spain and
France, the higher districts of Lombardy,
the mountain plateaus of Algeria and the
north of Africa, and throughout extensive
tracts of Asia Minor and parts of Turkey.
1t has been introduced into India with
success, and is also grown in Ceylon, Siam
and some of the Pacific Islands. The dis
position of the British Government to
introduce into the colonies whatever plants
may prove of advantage has led to the
planting of cork trees on the highlands of
South Africa and in Australia, while
American enterprise has induced the ex-
pertinent of its growth in several of the
Southern States and in California. Still,
however, the tree fourishes best in Spain,
Portugal and France, which may be con-
sidered as its proper home, and from
| these districts the best qualities of cork
are obtained.
The cork tree will grow anywhere from
/ 500 to $500 feet above the level of the
sea, and requires moderately dry climate
| for its best development-not too dry, for
then the growth of the tree is stunted, nor
yet too moist, otherwise the foliage will be
extremely luxuriant and the bark de-
icient. These conditions being best met
in the countries already alluded to, the
result is that France, Spain and Portugal
| have almost monopoly of the cork busi-
ness. The cork tree is not rank grower,
| and produces edible acorns which in taste
| resemble chestnuts, and are frequently
eaten by the population of the cork dis
| tricts, but are more useful as food for
swine, the peculiar taste impaired to the
| flesh rendering the pork and bacon of
| Southern France and Northern Spain a
choice dainty in the country markets.
The tree may begin bearing at any
| time between fifteen and twenty-five
years; but the first crop is worthless for
commercial purposes, being coarse, knotty,
and sometimes full of seams and cracks.
1t is known as "virgin cork" and is ex-
tensively employed for roofing, fencing,
and the like. The second crop is much
better than the first, but is still unavaila-
BILE for sale, except for the purpose of
making the Spanish black, which is
merely the charcoal of cork. The third
and succeeding crops are the true cork OF
commerce, and the tree will bear ten or
| twelve consecutive crops. Not, however,
in consecutive years, for the bark is of
slow growth, and eight to ten years must
| elapse before the second crop can be
gathered from the same tree. When the
cork cutter deems that the tree is ready to
| be shorn of its bark an incision is made
round the trunk near the ground and an
| other just beneath the lowest branch.
| Vertical incisions are then made through
| the bark, care being taken not to cut into
the tender, living bark beneath the cork,
otherwise the tree would be killed. A
peculiar knife, having two handles, or an
! ak made for the purpose is then employed
| to remove the slabs of bark from the tree,
and if taken off with proper care the plant
is not harmed by the operation; on the
contrary, the removal is beneficial, for the
! cork is really dead bark, and sometimes
| the cork-cutters prefer, after making the
| incisions In the tree, to allow the cork
| slabs to separate themselves, which they
| do in a few months.
After the slabs have been taken from
the tree they are naturally concave-convex,
following the shape of the trunk. They
are laid in ditch or trench of water, and
heavy stones placed upon them to make
them fiat After the warp has peen taken
o,tf fhax, lr,a Il, i
in fire to render the substance of the cork
more compact and to conceal superficial
defects, and it must be confessed the cork
growers are clever at this, as manufacture
ers sometimes find to their cost, for cracks
and holes in the slabs are filled up with
adhesive earth, and thus a beautifully
smooth and even piece will sometimes be
found commercially worthless. After
charring and again pressing the cork is
packed into bales, and is ready either for
manufacture or for export
Until comparatively recent years, all
corks were made by hand. The cork
cutter used knife some six inches long
and nearly four in breadth, of the very
finest steel, very thin and capable of being
brought to razor edge. Holding the
piece of cork in his left hand and the knife
in his right, with couple of semi.circular
cuts he produced the finished corks, their
length ana diameter depending upon the
thickness Of the slab. The cork is never
cut from the tree until it is at least three
quarters of an inch thick, and corks cut
from the slab vary in length from that to
two inches. Great difficulty was expert
enced by the inventors in perfecting ma
chinery for the manufacture of corks from
a curious and little-anticipated obstacle
the impossibility of keeping the knives
sharp. 1t is singular fact that cork, al
though so porous and yielding substance,
dulls knife to an incredible extent, so
that hand cutters are accustomedto to sharpen
their knives after every stroke. Tools for