37^ Jour/ial of Agriculture. [lo June. 1910. 



THE CORK IXDISTRY IX PORTUGAL. 



F. de Castella, Government Yiticulturist. 



Attention has repeatedly .been drawn to the suitalnlity of the climate and 

 soil of the greater part of Victoria for the growth of the cork oak. Its 

 cultivation has been recommended by the late Baron von Mueller and by 

 witnesses before the Royal Commission on Vegetable Products. Practicallv 

 nothing has yet been done, however, by our land-owners, towards the 

 establishment of the industry. Our Forestry Department has distributed 

 within the past thirty years a good many trees in order that they might 

 be practically tested in different parts of the State. Many of these have 

 done remarkably w'ell, and prove conclusively the possibilities there are for 

 cork production in Victoria. 



Australians, as a rule, think twice before undertaking anv culture which 

 entails a wait of several years before profits are obtainable. This impatience 

 has prevented the utilization of manv plants which have proved sources of 

 wealth in the warmer or sub-tropical countries of Europe, where the climate 

 is in many respects similar to our own. 



Many of these are shrubs or trees which, although taking some vears 

 to come into bearing, are, owing to their deep roots, well able to withstand, 

 without the aid of irrigation, the long drv summers of Northern Victoria. 



The Olive, the Chestnut and the Carob are among the principal trees 

 one meets wdth so frequently in the Peninsula, but which are almost un- 

 known to us, in spite of our very similar climate. The Cork Oak is even 

 slower than the olive in becoming productive, hence it is, no doubt, that it 

 has received even less attention from us than the latter tree. 



Cork plantations, methodically worked, are capable of yielding a return 

 of about jQ2 per acre per annum, in addition to the value of the acorns 

 they bear for pig feed ; and this without any expenditure in the way of 

 cultivation; for the industry belongs to the domain of forestry, rather than 

 to that of agriculture or horticulture. This productiveness mav be con- 

 sidered almost indefinite, since the life of the tree, in spite of regular 

 removals of cork, is generally set down at over a couple of hundred years. 

 Nor does there appear to be any danger of over production; the world "s 

 consumption of cork is increasing more rapidly than the supply, and good 

 cork is becoming steadily scarcer. As a means of turning poor soils to 

 profitable account, and at the same time providing an excellent evergreen 

 shelter tree, few others can compete with it. 



It is hoped that the following notes of what I saw of the cork industry 

 in Portugal mav cause attention to be once more turned to this valuable 

 but neglected tree. 



It was in Portugal that the work of my mission brought me most in 

 contact wdth the cork industry, and that I w-as best able to collect informa- 

 tion concerning it. The cork oak is even more largely grown in Spain, and 

 also to a considerable extent in Southern France. The first extensive 

 plantations I saw^ w^ere on the train trip from Oporto to Lisbon. In Northern 

 Portugal, the climate is colder and the profits to be realized scarcely high 

 enough for it to be suited to the economical conditions of the region, which 

 is essentially one of small holdings and intense culture. Further south, 

 where the rainfall is small and the climate w^armer, the properties are 

 larger and much of the land of poor quality from an ordinary agricultural 

 stand-point. Here, the cork oak asserts itself and becomes a feature in the 



