Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-12
CORK OUTPUT IS DECREASING
DISEASE AMONG CORK OAKS
THREATENS SUPPLY.
Lack of knowledge as to Right
Treatment for Trees-Poor
Ways of Taking Bark.

That the output of cork is rapidly de-
creasing. owing to disease among the cork
oaks and lack of knowledge regarding their
| treatment and the proper methods OF
gathering the bark. is asserted by +. San
| tolvne in the Paris Cosmos 1t. may be
! that in future wears we shall have to de-
| pend entirely on substitutes for the many
| uses To which this substance is now put
| The writer quotes especially the OBJ
| seryations of DR.. Ducomet. who has been
| srudving the subject for two years past
and who advises certain methods for pre-
serving the growth of the trees. He says
! The cork trees are perishing through
out certain regions. those of Mezen and
! I.avadec for instance. Stunted trees with
| the ends OF their branches dead are some
! times attacked by parasites. mostly
| fungi. In these conditions the bark forms
| thicker crust with more numerous holes
! il has no longer the fleXibleneSS. the fine
| texture or even the color that have given
| it its value. This diseased state of the
| tree makes il difficult. in dry years, tC
remove the bark without injuring the
| tree. a third of the product must
be rejected on account of its small thick
ness. which scarce reaches fifteen MILL
meters Uhree-fifths of an inchl instead
Of at least an inch.
1.-The slowness of growth of the inner
bark does not as has been thought, cause
a finer grain and greater elasticity; be-
sides, if these advantages really existed
they would be offset by increase in the
number and size of the cavities. On the
other hand. by delaying the time of gath
ering the bark, which is done normally
once in ten years. the thickness is not
sensibly increased. The annual layers
in fact. diminish i'm size from the outer
bark inward. Besides. the barking be-
comes necessary every ten years to re-
Stn he TO re al CITY
feited cork older than the usual ten
years. is also subject to attack by ants
The principal defect is the formation OF
the canals, simple or branched, that
and finally become filled with dusty
brownish powder.
Maritime Pines.
The state of decrepitude of the cork
oaks is noticed especially in places where
the maritime pine fiourishes, in dry re-
gions. in fine sandy soil, poor in organic
matter. with an underground formed al
most entirely of heath, moss and lichens
instead of the vegetation encountered in
richer and moister soils. But the elm
ination of the pine, whose injurious action
is not clearly understood, does not benefit
the cork trees, which. thus isolated, be
come stunted or die. 1t has been observed
that the young cork oaks flourish best
in places where the underground is uncut.
The removal of the underground impov-
erishes the SOIL removes it's fertiliZing
principles and facilitates the rapid disap-
pearance of the organic matter. Cultivat-
ed groves are always inferior To wild ones.
Besides these general causes of dete-
rioration we should mention cold and cat
erpllars. Heavy frosts cause the bark to
separate. injure and dislocate the wood
and do other kinds of damage. with much
loss of sap. The men who gather bark
bleed the trees with a Ratchet stroke to
facilitate the outflow of the sap before it's
decomposition. The tool must be kept i'm
a perfect state of cleanness to avoid posi-
BILE contamination
Sources of Injury.
In specifying sources of injury to the
trees the writer goes on to mention vari-
GUS diseases due to parasitic fungi, some
of them aided by insufficient nourishment.
Further: 4E
Without desiring to close question
whose Investigation can hardly be said to
be complete yet. Mr.. Ducomet advises
rational methods of treatment, including
absolute suppression of any use of the
ground about the trees for farming or
p.is,urage, The maintenance of the under
growth, moderation in the height to which
the removal of bark extends, and reduc-
ton of the number of cuts, drainage of
accumulation of liquid. destruction of the
maritime pine. and the keeping of the
tree within its natural limits of territory,
without any attempt at extension toward
the forest of resinous trees
The uses. of cork are very numerous:
and after Aie most valuable part of the
bark has been utilized, all the debris and
residues may be employed In one
French factory these are transformed into
protecting covers for glass vessels, pol
ishers for glass. etc, etc.