560 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
locality, the age of the trees, density of growth, and the quality of the 
cork produced. But as the demand for stoppers increases every day the 
cork plantations acquire an additional value. Large sums are invested 
in this kind of property, and several Catalonian stock companies have 
rented large plantations in Extremadura, Andalusia, and other places, 
and are making handsome profits out of them. In a plantation in 
Extremadura the first stripping was let for $200; the second brought 
$5,000; and the third $10,000. 
MINOR PRODUCTS. 
The mother bark of the cork tree contains a large amount of tannin, 
as much as the best oak bark. It is extensively used by the tanners of 
Cadiz. Cork trees grown for tan-bark are usually stripped every thirty 
years, at which age they are entirely denuded of their inner bark and 
cork. This kills the trees, and they are then cut down to the roots, from 
which spring new shoots, which in their turn are subjected to the same 
process. The roots soon lose the power of sending up vigorous shoots 
and get worse and worse, until at eighty years very few stumps show 
any signs of life. Few cork plantations are cultivated for tan-bark, as 
they give a better return when preserved for their yield of cork. 
The wood of the cork tree is ofa reddish brown. Its density, when dry, 
varies according to different authorities, from 0.787 to 1.560. Exposed 
to changes from wet to dry, it soon warps. It is very tough, and for 
that reason may be used in carriage and wagon making, and for similar 
purposes. As the wood is heavy and warps easily, and the trunks are 
very short, it is hardly ever used in domestic architecture. In naval 
construction curved pieces, which are continually under water and 
fastened with copper bolts, are very durable. Iron bolts cannot be usea 
on account of the tannin contained in the wood. It also makes gooa 
piles. It burns well, but as fuel it is not so good as other species ot 
oak. The charcoal is very good, the wood yielding about 18 per cent. of 
that article. 
CULTIVATION OF THE NETTLE IN GERMANY. 
This department is indebted to the courtesy of the Secretary of State 
for the subjoined correspondence and translations relative to the culti- 
vation of the nettle in Germany: 
UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 
Barmen, Germany, October 10, 1878. 4 
Hon. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, 
Washington, D. C: 
Sir: An article in the Hlustrate Zeitung of September 28, and a pamphlet by Frau 
von Roeszler Ladé on the subject of nettle-culture, have attracted some attention in 
this country, and thinking the subject might be of interest in our country, I have the 
honor to send you herewith a translation of the article in the Iustrate Zeitung, the 
pamphlet of Frau von Roeszler Ladé, and an abridged translation of the same. 
In agricultural circles the matter has excited a great deal of interest, and the cult 
ure of nettles has begun in the neighborhood of Leipzig. 
It struck me on reading the article and pamphlet that the culture of a plant 
so highly endowed by nature would be peculiarly adapted to the soil of some of our 
rocky and less favored regions, such as abound in the New England States, and 
in that hope I bring the subject before you. 
