1914

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART HI.

commerce, appeal’s to have been applied to useful purposes, even in the timeof the Romans; since Pliny mentions a kind of buckler lined with cork,and that the Roman women lined their shoes with it; the latter being apractice which is common all over the civilised world at the present day.Both Greeks and Romans appear to have used it occasionally for stoppers tovessels, “ cadorum obturamentis ” (Plin. Hist. Nat., lib. xvi. cap. 8.); but it wasnot extensively employed for this purpose till the 17th century, when glassbottles, of which no mention is made before the 15th century, began to begenerally introduced. (See Bcckmanrt s Hist, of Invent., vol. ii. p. 114—127.,Eng. ed.) In modern times, besides the employment of cork for stoppersto bottles, and bungs to vessels of various kinds, and for lining the soles ofshoes, and sometimes other articles, it is used by fishermen for supportingtheir nets, and by anglers for trolling and other kinds of fishing. It is em-ployed in the construction of life-boats, and also for what are called life-jackets, to enable those to float who cannot swim. In Evelyn’s time, corkwas much used by old persons for linings to the soles of their shoes; whencethe German name for it, pantoffelholtz, or slipper-wood. The Venetiandames, Evelyn says, used it for their choppinges, or high-heeled shoes; and“ the poor people in Spain lay planks of it by their bedside to tread on, asgreat persons use Turkey and Persian carpets, to defend them from the floor.Sometimes, also, they line the inside of their houses built of stone with thisbark, which renders them very warm, and corrects the moisture of the air.”This last use may afford a valuable hint to the constructors of covered seats,water-closets in the open air, summer-houses, or fishing-houses. In Spain, andalso in Barbary according to Desfontaines, and in the Canary Isles accordingto Webb and Berthelot, it is used for making bee-hives. For this purpose,the bark of young trees is chosen, rolled into a cylinder, and made fast bysewing, or by hoops. There are various other uses to which the bark of thecork tree is applied in its organic state; and it is burned in close vessels, tomake the powder which is sold in the colour-shops under the name ofSpanish black. At the celebrated Cork Convent at Cintra, several articles offurniture are made of this tree, which strangers who visit the convent arerequested to lift, in order that surprise may be excited at their extraordinarylightness. The most valuable property of the cork, and that which is almostpeculiar to it, is its imperviousness to any common liquid; while, at the sametime, it is light and porous, and, consequently, one of the best non-conductorsof heat. Add to these properties its compressibility and elasticity, and wehave a substance which can scarcely be equalled either in nature or by art.Its non-conducting properties, flexibility, and elasticity render it suitable forlining articles of dress, or the walls or floors of rooms; its lightness, and itsimperviousness to fluids, fit it in a superior manner for life-preservers, eitherin the form of boats, or articles to be attached to the body; and its compressi-bility, joined to its elasticity, taken in connexion with its imperviousness toliquids and its great durability, render it the best of all known substancesfor forming stoppers to bottles. For this latter purpose, as Bose observes, itforms an article of commerce throughout the civilised world. There isnothing peculiar in the culture of the cork tree, except that young treesshould be pruned, so as to have a clear stem of 10 ft. or 12 ft. in height, onwhich the cork is to be afterwards produced.

il lode of detaching and preparing the Cork. It is observed by authors, thatthe bark of the cork tree which separates from it naturally is of little valuecompared with that which is removed by art; and the reason, doubtless, is, thatin the latter case it has not arrived at that rigid, contracted, and fracturedstate, which is the natural consequence of its dropping from the tree. Whenthe cork tree has attained the age of about 15 years, according to Du Hamel,or of about 20, according to Bose, the bark is removed for the first time;but this first bark is found to be cracked, and full of cells and woodyportions, and is therefore only fit for burning, or being employed in tanning.The bark is separated by first making a circular cut round the trunk, imme-