in Provence and the Cevenncs. 329 



and aiiotlier at a height of about Ah feet above it, these 

 being joined by a third incision carried vertically down 

 from the upper to the lower one. Great care and long 

 practice are necessary to enable the workmen to perform 

 this operation without cutting into the matrix. The 

 cork is then raised with the blade of the axe and the 

 wedge-shaped end of the handle, and if it does not come 

 ojBf well it is struck with the back of the axe-head to loosen 

 it ; but this again must be carefully done to avoid injuring 

 the matrix, on which a new growth of cork is to form. 

 The layer of cork first taken off is of no value ; nothing- 

 can be made of it. The second and subsequent growths, 

 which are comparatively smooth, and form the cork of 

 commerce, are removed wdien they have attained a thick- 

 ness of nine-tenths of an inch — that is to say, after 

 intervals of from six to ten years. May and June, when 

 the trees are in full sap, are the months usually chosen for 

 this operation. After the lower ring of cork has been 

 removed, a second one is taken off higher up, and so on up 

 the trunk of the tree and its lower branches. In the 

 case of trees of small girth, the addition of an inch to the 

 radius involves a greater proportional increase in the 

 circumference than it does in the case of large ones ; and 

 the cork growing to that thickness on small trees is liable 

 to crack and split into vertical furrows, which, when they 

 are irregular, greatly diminish the value of the cork. On 

 this account it is usual to make two vertical incisions on 

 opposite sides of the young tree, which gape wide with its 

 increasing growth, but which avoid the formation of the 

 objectionable, irregularly-shaped, natural furrows that 

 would otherwise have been formed. The rule is to take 

 off only one ring at a time, and to allow the tree an 

 interval of two or three years' rest before attacking it 

 again; but this wdiolesome restriction is nut always 

 observed, and it is not uncommon to see trees which 

 have been stripped, at one time, of their covering of 

 cork throughout the greater part of their stem and large 

 branches, this leading frequently to the deterioration or 

 even the death of the tree so ill-treated. Trees that have 

 been barked in the manner above described, present a 

 peculiar appearance, the cork of diil'urent ages having 



