CORK OAK——-RYAN AND COOKE 
Phoenix. In the East and South a 
limited number of cork trees have 
been found in the States of Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor- 
gia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and 
Texas. Some of these trees produce 
only a few acorns, and annual cork 
acorn collections have been concen- 
trated in California. Experimental 
stripping has been carried out in 
California, Arizona, and the South. 
PLANTING ACTIVITIES 
One of the very first problems was 
the proper handling of the cork 
acorns which mature in November and 
December. Storage tests showed cork 
acorns could be kept viable for several 
months in wet cold storage at 34° to 
38° F. This method has been used 
successfully with large quantities of 
acorns for the past 5 years. As soon 
as collected, the acorns are shipped to 
cold-storage plants in New Orleans 
and Baltimore. For the Deep South 
the acorns are distributed early in 
February. Other States receive the 
acorns late in February and early in 
March. Those States on the northern 
border of the cork-growing area 
receive the acorns about the last of 
March or the first of April. 
Cork acorns are sent to the forestry 
departments of all the cooperating 
States. A portion of the acorns are 
planted in the State forest nurseries to 
produce seedlings for distribution later 
on. The balance of the acorns are 
distributed promptly to interested 
landowners throughout the States for 
immediate planting. In several States, 
through the cooperation of the exten- 
sion foresters, cork acorns are shipped 
to the county agents who distribute 
them among 4-H Club members. 
Vocational agriculture teachers are 
cooperating in the Cork Project by 
distributing acorns to F. F. A. and 
F. H. A. members. Science clubs 
affiliated with Science Service, garden 
clubs, and other civic olganizanons 
are growing cork trees. *% 598 
Most of the plantings are of limited 
size where the cork tree is being grown 
357 
as an ornamental on lawns or a shade 
tree about farms. In some _ cases 
several acres have been planted. A 
number of colleges and _ universities 
are growing groves of cork trees of 1 
acre in size or larger. Statewide 
Arbor Day programs, during which a 
cork tree was planted at the county 
seat of each county, have been held 
in South Carolina and Georgia. 
Recognizing the importance of the 
cork tree to this country, governors of 
11 States have planted cork trees on 
the grounds of their respective capitols. 
RESEARCH 
Numerous research activities are 
carried out by the McManus Cork 
Project. The cork oak has been suc- 
cessfully grafted to native oaks. Mirov 
and Cumming (2) have shown that 
scions of the cork tree can be grafted 
to both evergreen and deciduous 
American oaks. This method of es- 
tablishing cork trees is under observa- 
tion and it will be some time before 
the complete story is known. 
The rooting of cuttings is another 
method of propagation that has re- 
ceived serious attention. Cuttings 
from old mature cork trees have been 
rooted at the Fruitland Nurseries, 
Augusta, Ga. Tests are being contin- 
ued until the method can be reduced 
to aroutine. Cuttings for rooting tests, 
like the scions for grafting, are taken 
from trees having thick, resilient cork 
and bearing large crops of acorns. 
Experiments are being conducted on 
the rate of growth of cork trees. 
Cork seedlings in sand are being grown 
in the presence and absence of plant- 
food elements. This research will 
help in bringing the cork tree to 
stripping size in the minimum of time. 
The cork oak develops a long tap 
root with few laterals and this makes 
bare root seedlings difficult to trans- 
plant successfully. Research on root 
pruning cork seedlings in the nursery 
has been in progress several years. 
These tests already show more profuse 
root-development results from the first 
pruning. A much higher percentage 
