CORK FROM SPAIN

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22271, 9 December 1937, Page 6 (Supplement)

CORK FROM SPAIN

An Unusual Harvest .Oranges, onions, and nuts are not only things being received by ®®opean countries in reduced ®®ntities from Spain because of civil war there. Makers of goods are finding a difference “Mhe supply of cork for badminshuttlecocks and other games’ JgWjsites, while considerable quan- •°* this light and porous ?“«rial are still used for stopping in spite of the advent of caps. Table mats and many useful domestic articles are ■wo made from cork. .Hie best variety of cork is found Quantities chiefly in Spain. cor k * ree > which is generally m large groves and forests, resembles the English oak, SSJ •* often called “the cork oak.” yields up Its valuable bark e ,‘Bht or ten years, and lives about 150 years.

When the young tree is about eight or nine years of age, its outer bark begins to peel off, leaving the inner and more important bark exposed. The coarse outer bark is of little commercial use, but is sometimes gathered by local inhabitants for fishing net floats and for domestic use. In northern Africa, where cork is also found, the natives use the inferior cork for roofing their huts, as it is both light and waterproof. The cork is collected and placed in boiling water to remove any impurities, and is next “scraped,” and pressed out quite flat. It is now ready for packing and export. Each cork tree yields an average of about 45 pounds each eight to ten years when it is "harvested.” Hundreds of corks for bottles are turned out by machines in a few minutes. Pieces of the original cork strins left over after this process are not thrown away as a rule, but are ground down with rubber to form a mixture that provides floor mats and coverings.