if 
The quantity of corks that are manufactured and used each year by 
the world is enormous; 500,000 hundredweight of cork bark, allowing 
for loss, will give about 175,000 hundredweight of manufactured corks 
(there being about 1,00@ corks to 3 kilograms of weight, which equals 
9,833,333,000 cut corks). There are about 150 models, by which the | 
various sizes and forms are regulated. 
BOTANICAL. 
The Swiss botanist J. Jay first presented the specific characteristics 
which distinguish the veritable cork oak (Quercus suber L.) from the 
cork of Gascony, which was named by Jay Q. occidentalis. The separa- 
tion of these species made by him is of scientific interest rather than 
of practical benefit. 
The two species of cork oak belong to the evergreen oaks; leaves 
oval-oblong, entire or more frequently toothed, and the teeth jagged; 
14 to 2 inches long, width about 1 inch; branches rather scant, shade 
slight; the root system is strong and extensive, and roots are frequently 
seen on the surface; the growth varies as to locality, but is in general 
Slow. The most suitable exposure is on southern slopes, as offering 
more free circulation of air and admission of light, rather than on 
plains. Care must be taken in the selection of soil. It is said that the 
tree in its wild state is found only on the older geological formations, 
such as granite, clay, and slate. The experience of cultivators is that 
the best cork and the most rapid growth is produced on granitic, sili- 
ceous, and slate (Silurian) soils. It succeeds but poorly, if at all, in 
calcareous soils. Moreover, it requires abundant moisture combined 
with good drainage. 
The true cork oak appears spontaneously in the southern regions of 
Europe and on the northern shores of Africa. It grows alone or mixed 
with other trees, principally the maritime pine (Pinus maritima) and 
holm oak (Quercus iler). The principal stations are Portugal (in the ° 
basin of the Tagus), Spain (Andalusia, Catalonia, Estramadura), France 
(Southern Pyrenees, Var, Maritime Alps, Corsica), Italy (Sardinia, 
Sicily, Tuscany), Istria, and Greece. It constitutes vast forests in 
Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis. Itis not established in European Turkey, 
and is unknown in Syria and Asia Minor. With this range it is seen 
that the species is almost exclusively found in the basin of the Mediter- 
ranean. Its habitat is from about the thirty-fourth to the forty-fourth 
degree of north latitude, the region having an average temperature of 
about 59° F. It grows on the plains, but prefers slightly undulating 
ground, such as that of hills or mountains of slightelevation. In France 
it does not grow in a higher altitude than the grape vine, namely, an 
elevation of from 1,900 to 2,200 feet, but in Algeria it is found at an 
altitude of 4,000 feet. 
