THE COnK OAK. 13 



— even siicli a tree as Spenser has thns described is 

 strikinoly beautilul : decay in this case looks pleasinj^. 

 To sxich an oak Lucan compared Pompey in his 

 dechning- state. 



The Cork Oak {Quercus siiber) is not so large a 

 tree as the common oak. There are several varieties : 

 a broad leaved and a narrow leaved, which are 

 evergreens ; besides other varieties which shed their 

 leaves. The broad-leaved evergreen is, however, the 

 most common, and it is the one from which the cork 

 of commerce is chiefly obtained. It is mentioned by 

 Theophrastus, Pliny, and some other ancient natu- 

 ralists as being well known in the days of the Greeks 

 and Romans, — the latter of whom used it for a 

 variety of purposes, and among the rest for the stop- 

 ping of bottles. They used it for floats to their nets 

 and fishing tackle ; for buoys to their anchors; and 

 when Camillus was sent to the Capitol, through the 

 Tiber, during the siege by the Gauls, he had a life- 

 preserver of cork under his dress. 



The Cork Oak is indigenous, or at least abundant, 

 in Portugal, Spain, part of the south of France, and 

 Italy ; on the opposite coast of the Mediterranean, 

 and the Levant. Spain and Portugal supply the 

 greater portion of the cork which is consumed in 

 Europe. The cork is the bark which the tree 

 pushes outwards, as is common to all trees ; but here 

 the outer bark is of larger quantity, and is more 

 speedily renewed. When' removed, there is a libei; 

 or inner bark, below it, and from this the cork is re- 

 produced in the course of a few years, — while the 

 tree is said to live longer, and grow more vigorously, 

 than if the cork were not removed. The first time 

 that the cork is taken oft", is when the tree is about 

 fifteen years old. That crop is thin, hard, i'uU of 

 fissures, and consequently of little value ; and the 



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