1(,: THE CORK OAK: _ __ 



The population of the Montagues des Maures lives 

 chieflv bv the cork industry. Though the cork obtained 

 in the district is inferior to that of vSpain and Algiers, it 

 is still a valued article of commerce and forms a profitable 

 source of income. Before the Cork (_)ak can be stripped 

 it must luive attained a certain size. This may take from 

 fifteen to t\vent^■ \-ears. The first cork is full of cracks 

 and brittle and is used principalh' in tanning. Iiecause 

 it is rough and liard it is called "male cork". After 

 this the smoother, softer and more useful cork is produced- 

 This is called "female cork". The trees are stripped at 

 periods varying from eiglit to sixteen ^■ears, according to 

 the thickness reijuired in tlie sheets of cork. For ordinar^' 

 bottle-corks eight--\-ear-old slieets are thick enough, but 

 for "noble" Champagne corks much stronger and thicker 

 sheets are necessar\ — about live centimetres thick. The tree 

 is repeatedh' stripped until it is a hundred and lift^", 

 or even two liundred \ears old. Then tlie c|ualit\- of its 

 bark deteriorates and the tree is replaced hv a younger 

 plant. These ancient Oaks are ^'er^' majestic, and their 

 might^' crowns and gnarled trunks are conspicuous among 

 their surroundings. With pleasure does the eye rest upon 

 them when, as is freciuentl}' the case, t]ie\ are pictures- 

 queh' grouped round isolated bosses of rock on the hillside. 

 Tlie Cork Oak prefers a soil composed of weathered 

 granite and shale, and avoids limestone. So that the 

 !\lontagnes des Maures are as much isolated from tlie 

 rest of I"'ro\'ence in point of ^•egetation as the-\' are 

 geiigraphicalh'. ( )n the Innestone of the neighlioiu ing 

 Alps the Cork Oak is not to be found. At Mentone and 



