CORK 



1582 



CORK 



handled hatchet the stripper makes a cut 

 around the base of the trunk, and another one 

 at the top, just below the place from which 

 the main branches spring; these circular in- 

 cisions are then connected by two or more 

 vertical cuts, and the oblong sections of curv- 

 ing bark are pried off with the wedge-shaped 

 handle of the hatchet. Great care is taken not 

 to injure the under layer, as on a bruised spot 

 cork never grows again. The harvest season 

 in the cork forests comes in July or August. 



How Bark Is Prepared for the Market. Cork 

 in its natural state is covered with a rough, 



TAKING CORK FROM A TREE 



woody layer that is scraped off after the slabs 

 have been subjected to a boiling process. Boil- 

 ing also dissolves tannic acid present in the 

 bark, increases the volume of the cork, makes 

 it more elastic and easier to handle, and flat- 

 tens it out so that it can be conveniently 

 packed on the backs of burros. These pack 

 animals carry the product to the nearest rail- 

 way station, from which it is sent to various 

 ports for shipment. Before being loaded on 

 ships, the various sections of cork are sorted 

 according to quality and thickness, and are 

 then packed into bales and securely bound with 

 steel hoops or wire. The countries which re- 

 ceive the largest amounts of raw cork are the 

 United States, France and Great Britain. Se- 

 ville is the most important shipping center. 



The Many Uses of Cork. Numerous refer- 

 ences in classic writing show that the ancients 

 fully appreciated the value of cork. In Plu- 

 tarch's Lives is the story of a messenger who 

 swam across the Tiber on pieces of cork, a 

 primitive life preserver, and safely reached the 

 Capitol, which was then besieged by the Gauls 

 (400 B.C.). Pliny says that Roman ladies used 

 cork soles to keep their feet warm; he also 

 mentions the use of the bark for buoys of 

 anchors and fishing nets, and he recommended 

 pulverized cork taken in warm water as a 

 remedy for nose bleeding. 



Because of its elasticity, keeping qualities 

 and the fact that it does not admit air or 

 water, cork is the best substance known for 

 making stoppers for bottles. Cork stoppers, 

 which were first manufactured in the seven- 

 teenth century, are now in such general use 

 that they are everywhere known as corks, and 

 it is also customary to apply the name to the 

 function and to speak of "corking up a bottle." 

 The lightness, 'strength and durability of the 

 substance are utilized in the manufacture of 

 life buoys, belts, life preservers and other 

 apparatus used in saving people from drowning. 



As cork is a poor conductor of sound it is 

 used to good advantage in making floors for 

 hospitals. Linoleum, made by mixing cork 

 powder with linseed oil and spreading the 

 paste over canvas, is an excellent floor covering 

 for offices or halls, for it deadens sound and 

 keeps out dampness. Cork linoleum is now in 

 general use on ships. Cork is also occasionally 

 substituted for leather in making sweat bands 

 for hats. Cork molds, covered with silk or 

 cotton, are made by manufacturers of dress 

 trimmings who desire a foundation that is 

 durable and light. Waterproof coats made of 

 a thin sheet of cork cemented between two 

 pieces of silk are coming into use. In car- 

 penter shops bands of cork are beginning to 

 replace rubber ones for covering the pulleys 

 over which the band saw runs. Cork is also 

 coming into use in making floats for the car- 

 buretors of automobiles, wadding for shotgun 

 cartridges, fabric for balloons, a filling for 

 automobile tires, and casks and barrels in 

 which wine is stored. The beautiful and dur- 

 able Spanish, or cork, black, used in painting, 

 is made from cork parings and waste. 



Statistics of the Cork Industry. Spain pro- 

 duces about 78,000 tons of cork annually, 

 nearly 55,000 tons being obtained from the 

 Seville district. There are in Spain nearly 900 

 cork factories, and about 40,000 persons, who 



