10 



Lorenzo de la Muga, a little village in the Pyrenees in the Province of 

 the Girone — as having undertaken, with an associate, the farming 

 of cork forests. After gathering the cork they burned the refuse and 

 shipped the product to their own country. From this time cork forests 

 commenced to be rented. In 179G the proprietors were paid 6 reals 

 (75 cents) per hundredweight. At the same time the culture of the 

 cork oak was extended; workshops were established for the cutting of 

 corks in this region; the product was sent to the principal cities in 

 Europe, and the reputation of the quality, which was merited, is still 

 retained. 



Catalonia has a right to be considered as the cradle of the cork indus- 

 try. In Portugal cork culture made the most rapid strides. Although 

 of recent introduction, it became so extended that the production of 

 Portuguese cork not only equaled but surpassed in quantity all the 

 produce of other countries. The cultivation of the cork oak extended 

 from Catalonia to other slopes of the Pyrenees and into the Province 

 of Gascony, where its cultivation was seriously commenced in 1820. 

 The first efforts in this direction for governmental forests date back to 

 1827. 



There exists at the present time the following amount of cork-forest 

 lands: 



Hectares. 



Portugal 300, 000 



Spain 255, 000 



Italy 80, 000 



France 148, 500 



Algiers 459, 000 



Tunis 116, 000 



1, 358, 500 

 (3,488,250 acres.) 



It appears that France, Algiers, and Tunis possess more than one- 

 half of the total cork forests known. The Morocco forests are not men- 

 tioned, being still unexplored. 



The cork oak industry, then, is of modern origin, but has increased 

 in a most extraordinary manner. Already in a half century the pro- 

 duction has more than doubled without a notable reduction in price, 

 and with an extensively increasing market. The amount of prepared 

 ccrksold during 1892 equaled 587,000 hundredweight, which represents 

 a value of $7,630,000. 



Portugal occupies the first place as a producer, while the United 

 States, with an annual importation of $400,000 to $500,000 worth, and 

 England and Germany are the principal consumers. Spain exports 

 to all countries, the principal exportation being manufactured corks 

 for bottles. In this industry, and in the quality of the product, she 

 surpasses all other countries. Italy exports her product principally to 

 Spain, France, and Germany. In France almost the entire production 

 is consumed by the home manufacturers. 



