1296 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



But in the midland and northern counties the tree seems to suffer so much from 

 exceptionally severe frosts and lack of summer heat, that we know of no good trees. 



In the east of England the cork tree is also quite hardy, and at Lmton Park, 

 Kent, there is a fine tree, planted by Sir Horace Mann in 1778, which is 50 ft. by 

 9 ft. At Orwell Park, Suffolk, on the lawn, exposed to the east wind from the North 

 Sea there is a tree about 40 ft. by 8 ft. whose leaves were only just appearing on 

 23rd June 1905 when most of the old leaves had fallen. At Henham Hall, Suffolk, 

 the seat of the Earl of Stradbroke, there is a healthy cork tree close to the house, 

 which in 1909 measured about 40 ft. by 11 ft., and sometimes produces ripe acorns. 



At Stout Hall, in Glamorganshire, Mrs. Nicholl tells me of a tree which is con- 

 sidered to be the largest in Wales, and which is 50 ft. high by 13 ft. near the ground, 

 where it forks into five or six main stems. 



In Scotland the only tree we have on record is one at Mount Stuart, Bute, 

 which, when measured in 1903 by Mr. A. Renwick, was about 20 ft. by 3 ft. 10 in., 

 with a bole 10 ft. high. 



In Ireland the only tree we know of large size is one at St. Joseph's 

 Cemetery, near Cork, which Henry measured in 1903, when it was about 50 ft. high, 

 with a short trunk dividing into four stems which measured from 4^ to 6 ft. in 

 girth. The tree at Summerstown, near Cork, figured by Loudon, and said to be 

 30 ft. by 8 ft. 10 in. below the fork in 1828, has been dead for some years, although, 

 when recently seen by Mr. R. A. Phillips, 6 ft. of the trunk, with the bark quite 

 sound but the timber rotten, was still lying on the ground. 



Timber. Cork 



The timber of the cork tree seems to be little used except for firewood, and to 

 some extent by wheelwrights in Portugal, probably because it is rarely cut until the 

 tree is worn out and partly decayed, and I could not learn that it is ever exported. 

 According to Mathieu, the wood is similar to that of Q. Ilex, but is not so 

 homogeneous or fine in the grain, but is equally heavy and hard. A board which 

 was sent me from a tree which died at Blaize Castle, showed very handsome grain 

 when quartered, but the heartwood was discoloured. 



The cork naturally produced, what is called in French natural, male, or virgin cork, 

 is of little value on account of its hardness and brittleness, but is taken off the trees 

 when young, which then begin to produce the cork of commerce called female or 

 reproduced cork. This increases in thickness fastest between the second and sixth 

 year, and is usually taken off after eight to ten years, the quality improving with 

 the age of the tree, which may continue to produce marketable cork for 150 to 

 200 years or even more. When taken off, the slabs are scorched over a fire and 

 pressed to flatten them. 



Many details with regard to the commercial production and preparation of cork ^ 

 are given at length by Loudon and other authors, but as the subject has no economic 

 importance to British arboriculturists, we omit them. (H. J. E.) 



' The best and latest account of the cork tree, with complete statistics ot the production, export, and imports of cork 

 throughout the world, is given by Lefebvre, Forlts de I'AlgMe, pp. 135-326 (1900). Another monograph on the cork oak in 

 rts commercial aspect by E. A. MuUer, published in Abh. k.k. Geogr. Ges. Vienna, 1900, may also be consulted. 



