374 
of 160,000 tons per annum will be met 
in the seventy-ninth year, and, at the 
end of 100 years, the output will about 
equal the present production of the 
Mediterranean region, which is in the 
neighborhood of 350,000 tons per 
annum. The yield of this so-called 
22-year forest is well within the bounds 
of good economy and is adequate for 
the Nation’s need in times of peace 
and war. 
These 28,000,000 trees should be 
proportionately planted by States in 
relation to their respective positive 
potential areas. A suggested plan of 
planting is presented in table 11. 
TABLE 11.—Total number of trees after planting 
for 22 consecutive years 
Number of trees 
in positive 
State potential area 
Alabama tice krceke wsbionins Si 551, 432 
ATIZONA) sy sye's aris ode SHEET EOS 5, 141, 360 
Arkansas |iyescuc a. cj ecdtnsahote vash ee 755, 272 
Galiforniatyy.a crannies e 4, 979, 688 
Coloradowedh hci. etter 160, 272 
Delaware ses. ete se cine ae 51, 744 
(GOOF sia sicpiceatt die cise 553, 840 
TOUS eS oe ace ate 149, 016 
Nnvcliainarec se woctetuccrtmact tae ie 60, 368 
eentuckytersko:tikieretee rene eee to toh 691, 544 
Mianvyland)s iat. dA tclectoneees 137, 984 
INMISSISSIP PI wie acne bys shee aeeee ote 349, 160 
IMissouri@tsos-co eee ee: 247, 324 
WNevadatscicct Ac cctan sh Gorekye 400, 680 
INE IG aot Ge become bine 34, 496 
INeWa WICXICO Scisncusitierrer cle rar pere 3, 950, 464 
INorthi@arolinaenrin eee eee 763, 896 
Oklahoman aineeiec cose: 1,171, 688 
Qregontse) siete ajenie 3 susie 749, 224 
Southi@arolinaly. weer sae ee 373, 240 
Mennesseeets-arvcieve po neers «| 807, 044 
DUS ACE omen Goon tora oom cco 3, 815, 140 
Witalneisckiais civeiustancsstamiae ee 1, 095, 192 
Wisoimiae.:)< iaemciiclae sauniets vo oe 578, 116 
Washington’. )socyotto scleuke shee 431, 816 
United States positive po- 
tentialianrea a. eee 28, 000, 000 
Nore: The number of trees which each 
State must plant the first year is 3/350th’s of 
the corresponding numbers in the above 
table. 
SOME ESSENTIAL FACTORS 
Having virtually established the lo- 
cation of the forest, attention can be 
concentrated upon proper plans for 
the collection and distribution of 
acorns, suitable processes for stripping 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
the trees without loss, and correct 
methods for the management of the 
many cork oak plantations which will 
be scattered throughout .the 25 States 
in the positive potential area. At the 
same time, exhaustive studies must be 
made of growth phenomena in order to 
establish, for future use, the propaga- 
tion requirements of the cork oak tree 
in this country. Organized stripping 
research must be continued and elab- 
orated upon, so that additional funda- 
mental data may be accumulated on 
the relation between cork reproduc- 
tion and age, and between cork qual- 
ity and growth rate. These tasks of 
planning, study, and research are the 
present functions of the McManus 
Cork Project and its cooperating mem- 
bers. The ultimate aim of the project 
is to firmly establish the essential 
foundations for a cork-forest industry 
in the United States. 
In the national cork project, the 
State of California occupies the key 
position because it contains most of 
the worth-while acorn-bearing trees 
in the country and, consequently, all 
the raw material needed to build the 
proposed industry. During the first 20 
years, California must furnish at least 
60,000,000 acorns to permit the plant- 
ing of 20,000,000 trees, and, at the 
same time, must function as the ex- 
perimental laboratory in which hun- 
dreds of plantation workers from other 
States can observe and learn the cor- 
rect procedures for stripping and har- 
vesting cork in order that operators 
may realize a profitable return on 
their investment in land and labor. 
Usually the choice of a specific crop 
for a given piece of land is based upon 
comparison of its economic factors and 
financial returns with other crops 
adapted to the same land. The cork 
oak tree will not be in competition 
with agricultural crops because it is 
not to be planted on land which has 
food-producing potentiality. It is 
competitive only with such tree, grass, 
and other crops as are adapted to mar- 
ginal lands and to soils that are non- 
productive in the agricultural sense. 
