CORNELIAN OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 133 



Cork Trees. — The soft, spongy, and somewhat elastic bark of 

 several trees is employed for making bottle corks, barrel bungs, 

 and for several other purposes ; the most important being the Cork 

 Oak (Quercus Suher), a stout middle-sized tree of the Oak family 

 (Cupuliferae), native of South Europe and North Africa. 

 According to the age of the tree the bark tliickens, becoming 

 firm, spongy, and somewhat elastic. It naturally falls off; 

 but for commercial purposes it is removed before this can 

 take place, care being taken not to injure the inner bark, so that 

 it again grows. It is taken off in large pieces, soaked for some 

 time in water, and then submitted to pressure, and formed 

 into sheets of cork, of which the greatest supply to this country 

 comes from Spain, Portugal, France, and some from Italy. The 

 quantity imported in some years has exceeded 2500 tons, a 

 great part of which is used for making bottle corks and bungs ; 

 also for soles for shoes, fishermen's floats, life boats and buoys, 

 as well as for Kamptulicon and Linoleum, now much used for 

 floor coverings. In Algeria Cork trees attain a height of 65 

 feet, and a circumference of 10 to 16 feet. In some parts of 

 Spain they -attain an equal height. 



Cork Woods {Ochroma Lag opus), a tree of the Silk Cotton 

 family (Bombacese), attaining a height of about 40 feet, 

 common on the coast of the West Indies and many parts of 

 tropical America. The wood is soft, easily compressible, and is 

 used for corks, floats, rafts, etc. Its fruits contain a mass of 

 silky hairs of the same nature as those of the silk cotton trees, 

 and it is used for the same purpose. 2. Anona palustris (see 

 Alligator Apple). 



Corn, a general term for all kinds of cultivated grasses, 

 yielding farinaceous grains (their fruit), such as wheat, maize, 

 barley, etc. When ground it becomes flour and meal, forming 

 the general bread food of man. 



Cornelian Cherry (Comics mascula), a bushy tree or shrub 

 of the Dogwood family (Cornacece), a native of many parts of 

 Europe and ISTorthern Asia. Its numerous small yellow flowers 

 make it a conspicuous object in the spring. The fruit is oblong, 



