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Gilbert E. Stecher
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Title: Cork: Its Origin and Industrial Uses
Author: Gilbert E. Stecher
Release Date: October 24, 2012 [EBook #40376]
Language: English
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GATHERING CORKWOOD
CORK:
Its Origin and Industrial Uses
BY
GILBERT E. STECHER
Illustrated
NEW YORK
D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY
25 Park Place
1914
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY
D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY
[iii]
THIS monograph is not an attempt to put
before the reading public a scientific exposition of the merits and qualities
of the Quercus Suber or Quercus Liber (Linnæus), and carry it up
into the heights of learning where none but the learned may go; but to
set forth in as concise a manner as possible, the plain story of the
corkwood stopper so well known to all. The corkwood as seen in the stopper
and in many other articles of trade, has long been of service to man,
and remained unnoticed in journals of science, but for a word here and
there—and in trying to acquaint myself with its generalities, found
it most difficult to get even these. This rather impressed me as being
singular, a material so largely used and so little to its credit, in
literature, that I pressed my investigations only to find that the farther
I searched the less I found.
The few facts gleaned were of interest, and it occurred to me to put
them together in some readable form, for future reference. But as I reflected
upon the unsuccessful attempt to get information, which was made in behalf
of my studies, I promptly decided to go into the subject deep [iv]enough
to cover all the facts and the result is this monograph—Quercus
Suber—
It is presented with the hope that it will help others who seek a knowledge
of corkwood and is only intended as a résumé of a very
interesting subject. I have endeavored to give credit to those to whom
it is due and offer my results as a tribute to a material that stands
in a class worthy of the scientists’ as well as the commercialists’ esteem.
G. E. STECHER.
June 15, 1914.
[v]
[3]
Its Origin and Industrial Uses
“Cork”
THE material of which this monograph treats
has become of double interest because of its shrouded mystery, which
has never been pierced to the extent of giving the world a complete and
comprehensive story. The mysticism does not encompass its utility and
general uses nor its native land, as these are well known, but is more
associated with its character, composition and chemical makeup.
Its uses may be traced far back into the misty past that is dim to us,
but from the faint scroll of history looms up in the mind’s eye
as an epoch that we may have been glad to know, and although the references
are few, by carefully analyzing them we may glean somewhat of its lineage.
[4]The
arcana attending it have been revealed to a few, who no doubt, through
curiosity, have endeavored to penetrate its obscurity, but unfortunately
have not written extensively upon the subject, instead leaving a meager
memorandum of their findings. The years of its use have given very little
knowledge of it to us, the reason perhaps being the lack of competition
and therefore no necessity for a close scrutiny to find additional qualities
to recommend it above others. And an additional mystery is that it has
been in use for so many years and so little said about it. Its latent
qualities have mystified those who have handled it for years, and from
them we can learn very little; so it will be of interest to peruse practically
all that has been written, incorporated in this treatise, with the addition
of the latest investigations upon the subject. To present this in a form
which will give credit to the small but authoritative references and
place them in their proper order, together with other recent data, was
no small task, and in presenting the total matter in concise style meant
the weeding out of all extraneous language or superfluous description.
In considering this material, it may be well to start with a few precursory
remarks as to the etymology of the words by which it has been designated
in the past and is now known, as by so doing it will convey a better
understanding of the material to follow.
[5]
The above name is the true one of the material under discussion and
is derived from the Latin. Quercus; Italian or esculent oak sacred to
Jupiter. Liber; binding or surrounding; hence surrounding of the oak
or bark of the oak, sacred to Jupiter.
“Quercus Suber”
This, its definite name, undoubtedly conveyed some particular meaning
to the ancients, but research fails to reveal any definition of the word
“Suber.”[1] “The
word is so far a puzzle to philologists. Forcellini in his great dictionary
of Latin says that it is perhaps connected with the Greek word (συφαρ
= suphar), which means ‘an old wrinkled skin, as, for instance,
the cast-off skin of a snake.’ If this derivation be sound, the
Romans, in using the word, thought at the outset primarily of the rough
bark of the tree and then of the tree as a whole. Forcellini quotes also
an opinion of Isidorus Hispalensis upon the longer form of ‘Suber,’ i.e.,
Suberies, to the effect that this form is derived from ‘sus’ (swine)
and ‘edo’ (eat) because swine eat the acorns. But this is
a purely popular etymology. I find too that Scaliger derived it from
the verb ‘Subio’ ‘to come up from below’ because
cork will not stay down in water. Vaniçek, in his Etymologisches
Wörterbuch, classes [6] ‘Suber’ among
the dunkel words, and in the new and most elaborate Historische Grammatic
of Stolz the word is not mentioned at all in the treatment of roots.
Even Otto Keller in his work on Etymologies has nothing to say about
it.”
[7]
This name is as much of a mystery as the word
“Suber” and its origin can only be guesswork. In the opinion
of the writer it is the broadening of the first syllable of the word “Quercus” and
has no bearing upon its usage, composition or lineage. Some dictionaries
give other derivations, such as the mutilation of the Spanish
“Corcho” or the French “Calk,” and others that
it is taken from the Latin Cortex,[2] meaning
the outer shell or husk, the external part, but they do not present any
convincing argument.
The meaning of the word “cork” as applied to-day is derived
from the Arabic “Kalafa,” to stop the seams of ships; the
Latin “Stipo,” to suppress; the French, “Calfeutrer,” to
stop. But these do not bear upon the origin of the word
“cork,” as in all probability the word was coined independent
of these sources, but as we apply the word to a definite act, that of “stopping,” the
definition as given above is applicable, although the proper name would
be “stopper,” regardless of what material it is made. It
is therefore plain that the word “cork” is a Latin phonetic
abbreviation, for it appears to be the only logical root for the word.
[8]The
cork tree is called “Alcornoque” in Castilian language; Surn
in Castalan; Sobreiro, Gallician; Suvi y Sioure in provincialism; Chêne
Liège in French; Keonge fernam or only fernam, in Argeline; Kork-baum
or Korkeiche in German; and, as before stated, cork in English. [3]
[9]
The study of its origin leads us to that romantic part of the world
bordering the Mediterranean Sea from which we have already received so
much in all branches. The cork-producing country practically covering
the whole of Portugal sweeping toward the East through the southern districts
known as Andalusia and Estremadura, thence northeast, embracing thousands
of acres of forests in Catalonia. Spain and Portugal dividing honors
among the nations in the annual yield of raw material, with perhaps the
advantage leaning slightly to the latter.[4] This
being partly due to increased area, no doubt, as the geographical situation
is the same but with the irrigation feature slightly in favor of Spain,
as through the corkwood country flows the Guadalquivir River in addition
to the three which also pass through Portugal, consisting of the Douro,
Tagus and Guadiana in the west, and the Ebro in the Gerona district.
Tunis and Algeria[5] rank
next in importance with Southern France, including Corsica following
closely. Italy (Tuscany) too with the help of Sardinia and Sicily continuing
to be quite a factor in meeting [10]the
demand for the crude material, while across the Strait of Gibraltar the
sun-scorched forests of Morocco at El-araish are as yet undeveloped,
although rapidly being pressed into service.
The geographical formation of Portugal is extremely favorable for the
rearing of cork trees, every evidence of this characteristic being well
marked by the densely thick groups of cork trees to be seen in certain
regions, especially in the Valley of the Tagus and the Sierra de Portalegre
provinces of Alemtejo and Algarve, which are the chief bearing centers
of this country,[6] the
area devoted to their cultivation being approximately 366,000 hectares.
In Spain it is found in the Provinces of Gerona, Caceres, Andalusia,
Huelvas, Seville, Cadiz, Ciudad Real, Malaga, Cordoba and Toledo in the
order named.
According to a calculation made by the administration of forests the
extent of cork forests in Spain is about 255,000 hectares,[7] viz.
80,000 in the Province of Gerona, 54,000 in Huelvas, 32,500 in Caceres,
28,000 in Seville, 20,000 in Cadiz, 11,500 in Ciudad Real and 9500 in
Cordoba. The remainder is distributed between ten other provinces. [8]
In the Province of Gerona is included a large territory stretching northward
towards the Pyrenees to the Valley of the Muge and Ter. In France, [11]according
to Consul Goldschmidt of Nantes, the cork-producing territory is divided
as follows: Var, 280 acres; Lot-et-Garonne, 27 acres; Landes, 32 acres;
Corsica, 40 acres; making about 379 acres in all.
This résumé of the cork-producing countries of Europe
will convey some idea of the extent of the forests, and will also show
the climate sort by the tree; for it is proven that it flourishes best
in an altitude of 1600 to 3000 feet, in an average mean temperature of
55° Fahrenheit; and at points beyond 45° north latitude its successful
propagation is doubtful.
The Mediterranean Basin is particularly
suitable for the rearing of corkwood, and although many attempts have
been made to transplant the seed, the results have proven fatal.
Notable among these attempts being the American ambition to introduce
the tree in the United States. Portuguese acorns were brought to Wayne
County, Mississippi, and planted in 1859; the result, as far as the growth
was concerned, was splendid; but after a wait of eleven years, the final
crop was not a commercial success. Another attempt was made in 1872,
in southern California, but with no better outcome than the first, in
which some of the trees attained to a height of thirteen feet (3.965
meters) and the stem, to a diameter of eleven inches (2.794 decimeters),
including the cork, which attained a thickness of one inch (2.540 centimeters).
This evidently rapid growth would infer that the [12]American
zone was all that could be desired for the favorable rearing of cork
trees; but strange to say this was not the case. Although the growth
of the tree had been exceptionally strong, the quality of its salient
product turned out to be of an inferior character. The cork generally
improves with the age of the tree; in this instance, however, even after
years of maturity the cork harvest did not improve to any great extent,
and indeed is still of a second-rate quality.[9] And
Consul S. C. Reat, writing from Tamsui, recently reports the efforts
of the Japanese Government to plant cork trees in Formosa and the Ogasawara
Isles, in the endeavor to supply small corks to the Japanese merchants,
the result of which, is yet to be learned.
Many botanists consider the cork oak of Europe as belonging to two species,
one chiefly characterized by annual fructification and the persistence
of the leaves for two or three years (Quercus Suber, Linnæus);
the other by biennial fructification and annual persistence of the leaves
(Quercus Occidentalis, Gay). [10]
In the French departments of the Landes and Gironde the Quercus Occidentalis
forms extensive woods, as also in Spain, Algeria and in some parts of
Italy, while the Quercus Suber is a native of the Atlantic side of France
and Portugal, where this [13]tree
grows to the greatest perfection, and to which countries we are indebted
for the major part of our supply. The cork tree bears a general resemblance
to the broad-leaved kind of (Quercus Ilex, Holm) or evergreen oak, of
which species some authors consider it only a variety; but when full
grown it forms a much handsomer tree.
“In the localities to the north the cork is better than those
exposed to the south. It grows and develops in ground of very little
depth, and sometimes in ground, in appearance very stony. It is seldom
found in calcareous soil, preferring always a soil of feldspar, and like
the chestnut flourishes best in a sandy one.” [11]
The cork-oak attains a height of from six to eighteen meters, at times
reaching fifty meters[12] and
measures as much as 1.22 meters in diameter.[13] Its
branches are covered with small evergreen leaves, which are rather spongy
and velvety to the touch, have a glossy appearance and a saw-tooth edge,
measuring about three to five centimeters[14] long
and one and one-half to two wide. The roots are strong and spread considerably,
and frequently are to be seen [14]on
the surface of the ground. The flowers or blossoms make their appearance
in May; the fruit ripens in the fall or winter, from September to January,
and falling from the tree as soon as ripe. Three qualities of acorns
are to be observed according to their time of ripening and are called,
“brevas primerizas de San Miguel,” which ripen in September;
the second or middling “Martinencas,”
which ripen in October and November; and finally the “tardias Ó palo-Meras,” which
ripen in December and January. These acorns form one of the forest’s
chief sources of revenue, since fed to swine, they give a peculiarly
piquant flavor to the meat, Spanish mountain hams being noted for their
excellence. [15]
In the following paragraphs I will quote principally from Consul Schenck’s
Report, 1890, relating to the growing and procuring of the bark for shipment,
with interpolated sentences and slight changes, made necessary by other
data at hand. The most common practice is to cultivate this plant by
sowing, which is frequently done, above all, in ground somewhat manured,
making alternate furrows with vines. Up to their twentieth or twenty-fifth
year the ground is cultivated as if it were a vineyard, rooting up at
that age the vines on account of producing less fruit, and also on account
of the cork trees being pretty well grown up and no longer requiring
the shelter of the vines. At the end of even one year it is difficult
to transplant the cork [15]tree
on account of the length of the roots, principally the central one, and
if the trees are put out with the intention of transplanting they are
generally sewn in a false ground bottom made artificially at a certain
depth with layers of stones or bricks. French silviculturists recommend
about 110 to 120 trees to the hectare (2.471 acres).
The cork tree gives but little shade, which contributes greatly in causing
the soil to become dry. To avoid all these inconveniences, which are
highly unfavorable to the good production of cork, it is requisite that
young plants grow up with sufficient foliage, so that the branches touch
each other, and even overreach, till they are about twenty-five years
old. It may be convenient, if there is not sufficient foliage from the
cork trees themselves, to introduce secondary species, such as the elm
tree, ash and pine, known as (pi meli), these being depended upon to
supply the requisite coolness and manure to the ground. If the soil is
poor, the cork is thin but of fine quality and very appropriate to make
the best stoppers. If, on the contrary, it is rich, the cork is thick
but spongy. Consequently it is requisite to treat the cork tree in such
a manner that whilst the cork grows thick it will at the same time be
fine in texture. This is of course an agricultural problem and may differ
from year to year in the necessary details.
[16]
The cork tree has in no wise escaped from disease and infections; on
the contrary it has its full allotted share which worries the growers
more than the acquiring of a perfect texture, and unless great care is
taken will greatly reduce the value of a crop. The larva of the Coroebus
undatus (corch) attacks the interior of the cork, penetrating frequently
into the tree itself, which causes an undervaluation in the quality of
the cork, and, moreover, these perforations unite so closely and in such
a manner even in the trunk of the tree that in peeling off the cork,
part of the skin of the trunk itself comes off, causing much damage to
the tree.
The larva of the Cerambyx cerdo, as well as the ant, Formica rufa L.
hormigas, destroys the fine cork with their numerous borings and galleries.
Jaspered (Jasperado) is the name by which is known one of the defects
of the cork which reduces it greatly in value and as far as can be learned
comes from the tree itself. The porosity of cork is greatly increased
by the presence of cork-meal, resulting from the disintegration of the
Sclerenchyma, or stone cells, which penetrate the cork fiber and falling
to a powder facilitate the entrance of infection.[16]
[17]
[17]The
corkwood or cork of commerce is the external part or “periderm” of
the cork-oak; and when it has attained a diameter of approximately 12.7
centimeters or the tree measures forty centimeters in circumference according
to the Spanish governmental regulations, which the tree does usually
by the time it is twenty years old, the bark may be removed. The stripping
generally takes place during July and August, and it is a process which
demands skill and care, if injury to the bark is to be avoided. In Algeria
the French strippers sometimes use crescent-shaped saws, but under the
usual Spanish method a hatchet, with a long handle, is the only implement
employed. The bark is cut clear through, around the base of the tree,
and a similar incision is made around the trunk, just below the spring
of the main branches; the two incisions are then connected by one or
two longitudinal cuts, following, so far as possible, the deepest of
the natural cracks in the bark. Inserting the wedge-shaped handle, the
tree’s covering is then pried off. The larger branches are stripped
in the same manner, yielding, generally, a finer grade of cork than that
of the trunk. The thickness of the bark ranges from 1.27 centimeters
to 6.85 centimeters, while the yield also varies greatly [18]from
twenty to 75 kilograms[18] per
tree, depending upon its size and age. After the first stripping the
tree is left in the juvenescent state to regenerate, and great care must
be taken in the stripping not to injure the inner skin or epidermis at
any stage of the process, for the life of the tree depends upon its proper
preservation, for if injured at any point, growth there ceases and the
spot remains forever afterward scarred and uncovered. It is also necessary
to avoid stripping during the prevalence of a sirocco, which would dry
the inner skin too rapidly and therefore exclude all further formation
of cork.
The Capgrand-Mothe system, which, as known, consists of dressing the
trunk with the same cork just removed, and leaving it so dressed for
a couple of months, has not met with approval, as being impracticable
on a large scale. After the stripping, the phellogen, the seat of the
growing processes, undertakes at once the formation of a new covering
of finer texture, and each year this, the real skin, with its life-giving
sap, forms two layers of cells, one within, increasing the diameter of
the trunk, the other without, adding thickness to the sheathing of bark.
After eight or ten years this sheathing is removed, and while more valuable
than the first stripping, it is not as fine in quality as that of the
third and subsequent strippings, which follow at regular intervals of
about nine years. At the age of about forty years the oak begins to yield
its best bark, continuing productive as a rule for [19]almost
a century.[19] The
cork of the first barking is called Corcho-Bornio, Borniza or virgin,
and is so coarse, rough, and dense in texture that it is of little commercial
value. The second barking is called “pelas,” or secondary
cork, and this and subsequent barkings constitute the cork of commerce.
As the bark is removed it is gathered up in piles (rusque) and left for
a few days to dry. Having been weighed, it is next carried either in
wagons or on the backs of burros to the boiling station, where it is
stacked and allowed to season for a few weeks. It is then ready for the
boiling process. The outside of the bark in its natural state is, as
may well be imagined, rough and woody, owing to exposure to the weather.
After boiling this useless outer coating is readily scraped off, thereby
reducing the weight of the material almost twenty per cent. The boiling
process also serves to remove the tannic acid, increases the volume and
elasticity of the bark, renders it soft and pliable and flattens it out
for convenient packing. After being roughly sorted as to quality and
thickness, the bark is then ready for its first long journey, and as
the forests are generally located in hilly or even mountainous country,
the faithful burro must again be called into service. Truly the [20]Spaniards’
best friend, though the worst treated of all, these patient little animals
present a most grotesque appearance when loaded from head to hind quarters
with a huge mass of the light bark. Down from the hills they go in trains
of thirty, forty or even a hundred, threading the rocky bridle paths
in single file and wending their way through the narrow streets of quaint
villages where traces of Moorish occupancy may still be seen, to the
nearest railway station. The corkwood is there freighted to the various
sea-port warehouses in Spain and Portugal, Seville, Spain being perhaps
the largest depository and user of raw material.[20] This
historic city, situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir, presents a
very animated sight in the summer months, and plays a very important
part in the cork industry, for besides the numerous warehouses for storing
and shipping there are factories for the manipulation of cork and its
conversion into the many useful forms in which it has proven of value.
Before shipping, the bales are opened, the edges of the bark trimmed
and the bark then sorted into the various grades of quality and thickness
again. The importance of this last mentioned operation cannot be overemphasized,
as the whole problem of the successful and economical manufacture of
corks center about it. After sorting it is ready to be rebaled for shipment,
this generally being done by placing the large, flat pieces called planks
or tables, at the bottom of the [21]bales,
and above them the small pieces which are covered in turn with larger
sections; then the whole mass being subjected to pressure to render it
compact, afterward being bound up securely with steel hoops or wires.
Each bale carefully marked indicating the grade or quality, loaded directly
into ocean-going steamers and shipped to the ports of the world.
From this meager description we at least can learn what “corkwood” is,
the limited sphere of its growth, the constant care necessary to insure
a successful harvest or gathering, the peculiarities of the tree, its
longevity and the general mode of preparing the bark for shipment; the
narration in no wise doing justice to this most interesting material,
in its natural state, for its growing is a fascinating tale in itself;
but for the purpose of this writing the foregoing has been deemed sufficient
to convey an understanding of it.
As we have now seen how this wonderful material grows, its haunts and
dwellings, we will look at it more closely and see what it really is,
how this particular formation comes about and its peculiarities.
[22]
IN considering “cork” for the
purpose of ascertaining its characteristics, texture and composition
we will, instead of analyzing the material after it has reached the market,
look at it from the standpoint of botany and learn of its formation upon
the tree, from which it is procured. It appears that the word “cork”[21] in
botany signifies a growth peculiar to all plants and pertaining to none
in particular, being described as “a peculiar tissue in the higher
plants forming the division of the bark (which name is sometimes restricted
to the dead tissues lying outside the cork); consisting of closely packed
air-cells nearly impervious to air and water and protects the underlying
tissues.”[22] Again, “It
is produced by the activity and division of certain merismatic cells
known as phellogen or cork cambium which are situated immediately within
the epidermal covering of the young growth. As the cork cells grow older,
their protoplasmic contents disappear and are replaced by air. In order
that this formation may be clearly understood, I will quote from a paragraph
entitled “Cork and Epidermal Formations Produced by It” contained
in
“A Text Book on Botany,” by Sacks.
[23]“When
succulent organs of the higher plants, no longer in the bud condition,
are injured, the wound generally becomes closed up by cork tissue, i.e.,
new cells arise near the wounded surface by repeated division of those
which are yet sound, and these forming a firm skin separate the inner
tissue from the outer injured layers of cells. The walls of this tissue
offer the strongest resistance to the most various agencies, similar
to the cuticular layers of the epidermis in their physical behavior,
flexible and elastic, permeable only with difficulty by air and water,
they for the most part soon lose their contents and become filled with
air. They are arranged in rows lying at right angles to the surface or
parallelopipedal form, and form a close tissue without intercellular
spaces. These are the general distinguishing features of cork tissue.
It is formed not only on wounded surfaces, but arises in much greater
mass where succulent organs require an effectual protection (e.g., potato
tubers) or where the epidermis is unable to keep up with the increase
of circumference where growth in thickness continues for a long period.
In these cases the cork tissue is formed even before the destruction
of the epidermis, and when this splits under the action of the weather
and falls off, the new envelope formed by the cork is already present.
The cork tissue is the result of repeated bipartitions of the cells by
partition walls, rarely in the epidermis cells themselves, more often
in the subjacent tissue. The partition walls lie parallel [24] to
the surface of the organ, divisions also taking place in a vertical direction,
by which the number of the rows of cells is increased. From the two newly
formed thin-walled cells of each radial row one remains thin walled and
rich in protoplasm, and in a condition capable of division; the other
becomes transformed into a permanent cork cell. Thus arises, usually
parallel to the surface of the organ, a layer of cells capable of division,
which continues to form new cork cells, the cork cambium or layer of
phellogen. In general this is the innermost layer of the whole cork tissue,
so that the production of cork advances outwardly and new layers of cork
are constantly formed out of the phellogen on the inner surface of those
already in existence. When in this manner a continuous layer of cork
arises, steadily increasing from the inside, it is termed “periderm.” As
the epidermis is at first replaced by the periderm, so in turn is this
replaced by cork (the dead tissue). The development and configuration
of the cork cells may change periodically during the formation of periderm.
Alternate layers of narrow, thick-walled and broad, thin-walled cork
cells are formed; the periderm then appearing stratified, like wood,
showing annual rings as in the periderm of the Quercus Suber, Betula
Alba, etc.”
Mr. Sacks, as a botanist, has clearly set forth the explanation of the
formation of the periderm of the Quercus Suber in the foregoing, and
although the story of the life producing this formation would [25] be
an acceptable sequel to this explanation, it would in no wise assist
in the ultimate findings, and therefore it is dispensed with. Mr. William
Anderson, in a paper read at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in
1886, has the following to say on cork formation, which is very interesting:
“In considering the properties of most substances, our search for
the cause of their properties is baffled by our imperfect powers and
the feeble instruments we possess for investigating molecular structure.
With cork, happily, this is not the case; an examination of its structure
is easy and perfectly explains the cause of its peculiar and valuable
properties. All plants are built up of minute cells of various forms
and dimensions. Their walls or sides are composed chiefly of a substance
called cellulose, frequently associated with lignine, or woody matter,
and with cork, which last is a nitrogenous substance found in many portions
of plants, but is especially developed in the outer cork of exogenous
trees, that is, belonging to an order, the stems of which grow by the
addition of layers of fresh cellulose tissue outside the woody part and
inside the bark. Between the bark and the wood is interposed a thin fibrous
layer, which in some trees is very much developed. The corky part of
the bark which is outside is composed of closed cells, exclusively, so
built together that no connection of a tubular nature runs up and down
the tree, although horizontal passages radiating toward the woody parts
of the tree are [26]numerous.
In the woody part of the tree, on the contrary, and in the inner bark,
vertical passages or tubes exist, while a connection is kept up with
the pith of the tree by means of medullary rays. In one species of tree,
known as the cork-oak, this is strongly developed.” It appears
that Mr. Anderson enlivened his lecture by microscopic projections, for
he goes on to say: “First I project on the screen a microscopic
section of the wood of the cork tree. It is taken in a horizontal plane,
and I ask you to notice the diversity of the structure and especially
the presence of large tubes or pipes. I next exhibit a section taken
in the same plane of the corky portion of the bark. You see the whole
substance is made up of minute many-sided cells about 1⁄750 of
an inch in diameter and about twice as long, the long way being disposed
radically to the trunk. The walls of the cells are extremely thin and
yet they are wonderfully impervious to liquids. Looked at by reflected
light, bands of silvery light alternate with bands of comparative darkness,
showing that the cells are built on end to end in regular order. The
vertical section next exhibited shows a cross section of the cells like
a minute honeycomb. In some specimens large crystals are found. These
could not be distinguished from the detached elementary spindle-shaped
cells, of which woody fiber is made up, were it not for the powerful
means of analysis we have in polarized light. I need hardly explain that
light passed through a Nicol’s prism becomes polarized, that is
to [27]say,
the vibrations of the luminiferous ether are all reduced to vibrations
in one plane and consequently if a second prism be interposed and placed
at right angles to the first, the light will be unable to get through;
but if we introduce between the crossed Nicol a substance capable of
turning the plane of vibration again, then a certain light will pass.
I have now projected on the screen the feeble light emerging from the
crossed Nicol. I introduce the microscopic preparation of cork cells
between them, and you see the crystals glowing with many colored lights
on a dark ground. Minute though these cells are, they are very numerous
and hard, and it is partly to them that is due the extraordinary rapidity
with which cork blunts the cutting instruments used in shaping it.” In
his research or experimentations Mr. Anderson was most deeply impressed
with the elasticity of cork, and has the following to say upon his findings: “It
would seem difficult to discover any new properties in a substance so
familiar as cork, and yet it possesses qualities which distinguish it
from all other solid or liquid bodies, namely, its power of altering
its volume in a very marked degree in consequence of change of pressure.
All liquids and solids are capable of cubical compression or extension,
but to a very small extent; thus water is reduced in volume by only .00005
part by the pressure of one atmosphere. Liquid carbonic acid yields to
pressure much more than any other fluid, but still the rate is very small.
Solid substances, with the exception of cork, offer [28] equally
obstinate resistance to change of bulk; even India rubber, which most
people would suppose capable of very considerable change of volume, we
find it really very rigid. Metals, when subjected to pressure which exceed
their elastic limits so that they are permanently deformed, as in forging
or wire drawing, remain practically unchanged in volume per unit of weight.
Not so with cork, its elasticity has not only a very considerable range,
but it is very persistent. Thus in the better kind of corks used in bottling
champagne and other effervescing wines, you are familiar with the extent
to which the corks expand the instant they escape from the bottles. I
have measured this expansion and find it to amount to an increase of
volume of seventy-five per cent; even after the corks have been kept
in a state of compression in the bottles for ten years.[23] When
cork is subjected to pressure, either in one direction or from every
direction, a certain amount of permanent deformation or permanent set
takes place. This property is common to all solid elastic substances
when strained beyond their elastic limits, but with cork the limits are
comparatively low.” To take advantage of the peculiar properties
of cork in mechanical applications it is necessary to determine accurately
the law of its resistance to compression, and for this purpose Mr. Anderson
instituted a series of experiments of this kind. Into a strong iron vessel
of five and one half gallons’ capacity he introduced a quantity
of cork [29] and
filled the interstices with water, carefully getting out all the air.
He then proceeded to pump in water until definite pressures up to one
thousand pounds per square inch had been reached, and at every one hundred
pounds the weight of the water pumped in was determined. In this way,
after many repetitions, he obtained the decrease of volume due to any
given increase of pressure. The observations have been plotted into the
form of a curve which is discernible on the accompanying diagram.
The base line represents a cylinder containing one cubic foot of cork
divided by the vertical lines into ten parts; the black horizontal lines,
according to the scale on the left-hand side, represent the [30] pressures
in pounds per square inch which were necessary to compress the cork to
the corresponding volume. Thus to reduce the volume to one half, required
a pressure of two hundred and fifty pounds per square inch. At sixteen
hundred pounds per square inch the volume was reduced to forty-four per
cent, the yielding then becoming very little, showing that the solid
parts of the cells had come together and formed a solid, compact mass,
thus corroborating Mr. Ogston’s determination that the gaseous
part of cork constitutes about fifty-three per cent of its bulk.
In further study it has been found that no matter what compression is
used, providing there is no disintegration, the corkwood will retain
just that slight spongy character that so marks its growth.
In analyzing this solid matter, Ure found by treating it with nitric
acid the yielding was:
| White fibrous matter (cellulose) |
0.18 |
parts |
| Resin |
14.72 |
“ |
| Oxalic acid |
16.00 |
“ |
| Suberic acid |
14.4 |
“ |
|
45.30 |
parts |
Chevruel in an analysis of corkwood states that he found the following
constitutents, but he does not give percentages:
Cerin, a soft fragrant resin.
Yellow and red coloring matter.
Quercitannic acid.
Gallic acid.
[31]A
brown nitrogenous substance.
Salts of vegetable acids.
Calcium.
Water.
Suberic acid.
Suberin (cellulose).
I am inclined to think that Chevruel selected a poor grade of cork,
full of stone cells and Jasperado, as his findings include much that
would indicate that was the case.
In further defining the various substances which go to make up the body
of corkwood the one that is most impressive is that substance that is
peculiar to cork itself, the others being readily known, but suberic
acid is the one of interest, and this is described by Fownes as a product
of the oxidation of cork by nitric acid; is a white crystalline powder,
sparingly soluble in cold water, fusible and volatile by heat, the chemical
formula given being (C4H14O4). Suberic
acid is also described as a dibasic acid which forms small granular crystals
very soluble in boiling water, alcohol and ether. It fuses at 300 degrees
Fahrenheit and sublimes in acidular crystals. It is also produced when
nitric acid acts on stearic, margaric or oleic acid. The chemical analysis
is given as (C8H14O4) and I am inclined
to believe it is the truer one, as it is much later than Fownes’.
This suberic acid has been further broken up to ascertain its fundamental
characteristics and it was found to partake of the two compounds suberone
and suberate.
[32] Suberone
(C14H24O2) being regarded as the ketone
of suberic acid, an aromatic liquid compound obtained when suberic acid
is distilled with an excess of lime.[24] Also
described as a colorless oil with an odor of peppermint and a boiling
point of 179 to 181 degrees Centigrade, chemical formula, Suberone—Cycloheptanone—
CH2 . CH2 .
CH2
/
CO
\
CH2 . CH2 .
CH2
Suberate (C8H12M2O4) is
known as the salt of suberic acid having a metal cast,[25] and
Suberin or cellulose[26]—is
that portion remaining after nitration and is chemically expressed by
the formula (C6H10O5). Dr. Robert K.
Duncan, Prof. of Industrial Chemistry in the University of Kansas, informs
us that this material is the commonest of common things[27] and
when dry, forms one third of all the vegetable matter in the world. This
mysterious substance is the structural basis of the wood, but with all
its prominence and use, we know nothing more about it than that which
is expressed in the formula.
The presence of this cellulose is only a natural fact, as the greater
part of plant life is cellulose; nor is the list of elements that go
to make up the [33]solid
matter so strange and unaccountable, but the quality that makes it a
wonderful growth and so popular above its fellows is its lightness—this
is its commendable feature and it is light indeed.
Ure puts the specific gravity at .24 and this is concurred in by Brisbane.
Test of Corkwood for Ascertaining the Possible Presence
of an Essential Oil, by Steam Distillation
Two tests were made on this material to ascertain the presence of an
essential oil. The first showed the presence of an oily film, resplendent
in colorings, opalescent, variegated and beautiful, but odorless and
of such small quantity that it may safely be said “No Oil.”
The second proved the same as the first, and although the strong odor
of cork or suberic acid was present, no oil appeared.
The results of these tests indicate that there is no essential oil in
corkwood obtainable by steam distillation.
Test No. 1
4-4-1913.
A copper still, supported on two trunnions, fitted with a dome and goose-neck,
which terminated in a tin coil (water cooled), and with a perforated
bottom through which the steam passed, was used.
This measured two inches in diameter and two [34] inches
high, from the perforated plate to the top of the pot, the dome being
about one foot higher.
Into this still was placed 41 pounds of corkwood, as it comes from the
cutters and punchers (scrap pieces), no preliminary washing or preparing
being done; this 41 pounds filled the pot or the still.
All things made tight, using an asbestos packing, the steam was turned
on at 70 pounds and run for one hour.
Test No. 2
4-15-1913.
Same still used as in Test No. 1, thirty pounds of a clean, good grade
Granulated Cork, of a fineness to pass a 1⁄16″ mesh,
was put into the still—this half filling same.
Steam turned on at 70 pounds and run for one hour.
Tests made at A. J. Crombie & Co., Brooklyn, N.
Y.
Anderson, Ure, Chevruel, Fownes, Watts, Brisbane, men of science; to
these we are indebted for the little that is known of corkwood, and although
perhaps much more could be said by elaboration, it will suffice to record
the facts in this monograph for the purpose involved.
But to the data assembled may be added much in commentation, for the
material becomes more interesting the more it is studied, and most naturally
excites comparison with other materials and substitutes, as well as calling
forth a discussion as to the dangers involved by its presence in the
places [35] where,
by skill of hand and machinery, it is transformed into the many commercial
forms, noted in this article. We comment upon its growth, which is truly
wonderful and all-absorbing in its many interesting phases; it takes
us to the romance of the East and the enchantment of the Moorish occupation;
through which these forests of cork-producing trees passed and yet remain
to furnish the present generation. We comment upon its lightness and
buoyancy, due to the presence of air and excess of hydrogen, known to
be lighter than air; and the small percentage of other matter which,
being of less importance, make its other quality so renowned as to make
it the most wonderful growth of its kind. Its imperviousness to water
and other liquids have given us moments of reflection, upon this phenomenon,
but now known to be because of the cellulose composing the cell walls
and which, when the substance is under compression, practically is all
that remains, except for the small quantity of resin, etc., to resist
the passage of liquids or gases. But heretofore when these commentations
have reached the burning point, its physical nature was entirely eliminated
from the conjecturing and the important part neglected, that as the cork
contained fifty-three per cent of air, heat of 450 degrees expands to
the point of explosion, the contents of those cells nearest the surface,
which giving up their oxygen feed the flames and in their passage help
to disintegrate the cell walls and make them more easily ignited. Thus
causing a rapid [36]burning,
flash fire which, in its fury, Pluto could not rival, only racing over
the surface of the cork, burning but slightly, yet helped by other conditions,
resulting in a fire destructive and fierce. This rapid burning leaves
the outer surface of the cork charred and flaky and causes a discoloration
beneath it attributed to the dissolving of the resins, etc. Of course
where there is a large quantity of corkwood the extent of the burning
must necessarily be greater and the depth of the char increased. But
it appears that the first flash burning produces a sort of protection
coat of carbon around the remaining unburned portions which a subsequent
flame penetrates with difficulty. [28]
A simple experiment to show this depth of burning, and one that is easy
to do, is the flash and flame test which was found of interest.
Two pieces of cork were taken, having the following measurements—8⁄16″ × 7⁄16″ × 11⁄16″—and
the first piece held so that the flame of a gas jet would cause a flash
over its surface; then the second piece is taken and held within the
flame for a minute.
It will be found that the corkwood has expanded and the dimensions increased
to the following:
| Flash |
Flame |
| 8⁄16″ × 13⁄16″ × 11⁄16″ |
10⁄16″ × 14⁄16″ × 11⁄16″ |
[37]showing
the effects of the heat upon the tissue and contents of the cells.
Now in scraping these samples clean of all char the dimensions will
return to the following:
| Flash |
Flame |
| 6⁄16″ × 11⁄16″ × 11⁄16″ |
8⁄16″ × 10⁄16″ × 11⁄16″ |
clearly setting forth the fact that the char is comparatively light
in both cases, ranging from 1⁄8″ to 1⁄4″.
To this cause is ascribed the burnability of cork having by careful
observation and experiment, extending over a period of two years, studied
the results of numerous fires in premises where cork was being worked
and also conducted heat applications on various grades of cork[29] resulting
in the foregoing findings.[30] Thus
it is found that cork contains sufficient air to supply any fire in it
and precludes the necessity of free access to any outside supply which
makes it a material worthy to be watched. To its many qualities of great
service to man, giving him a material which from the ages past, till
now, has proven of such value, must be added this one, no less important
than others, [38] which
heretofore have been its commendable features.
Rather than attend the “cork” through the many passages
of commerce and manufacture, it is deemed propitious to deviate a little
from a natural course, i.e., from the growing to manufacture and rather
advance to a knowledge of the many uses to which this material is put
and its application to the innumerable arts, and then take up the manufacture.
[39]
MR. H. G. GLASSPOOLE,[31] writing
regarding the uses of cork by the ancients, states: “The cork-tree,
and the application of its bark to useful purposes, was well known to
the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The former used this material in the
construction of the coffins for their dead. Theophrastus, the Greek philosopher,
who wrote on botany four centuries B.C., mentions this
tree among the oaks, under the name of ‘Phellus’ in Book
Two of his
‘Historia Plantarum,’ and stated that it was a native of
the Pyrenees, having a thick fleshy bark which must be stripped off every
three years to prevent it from perishing. He adds that it was so light
as never to sink in water, and on that account might be used for many
purposes.” It is the opinion of the writer that the attention of
the ancients was undoubtedly called to this particular bark by its buoyancy,
and as their fisheries were extensive its usefulness became readily apparent
to float nets, etc., or to use even in the construction of their boats,
and its sponginess and water-repellent properties not escaping their
notice, it became a most likely material for stoppers of casks or amphorae
as noted by Horace in Ode iii, 8: “Corticem [40] adstrictum
pice dimovebit amphorae.” Pliny, in his “Natural History,” XVI,
18, describes the tree under the name of Suber and relates everything
said by Theophrastus of Phellus. From his account we learn that the Roman
fishermen used it as floats to their nets and fishing tackle, and as
buoys to their anchors. The use of these buoys in saving life appears
to have been well known to the ancients, for Lucian, Epist. i, 17, mentions
that when two men, one of whom had fallen into the sea, and another who
jumped after to afford him assistance, both were saved by means of an
anchor buoy. The use of this substance in assisting swimmers was not
unknown to the Romans, for Plutarch in his Life of Camillus, who flourished
in Rome 400 B.C., gives an account of its use by a messenger,
sent to the Capitol, then besieged by the Gauls: “Pontius Cominius
having dressed himself in mean attire under which he concealed some pieces
of cork. He could not pass the river by the bridge, therefore took off
his clothes, which he fastened upon his head, and having laid himself
upon the pieces of cork swam over and reached the city.” The use
of cork as stoppers was entirely unknown to the Romans, but instances
of its being employed may be seen in Cato’s “De Re Rustica,”
Cap. 120, but this did not happen frequently or more would be said of
it.
The convivial customs of those days had no connection with the bottle,
glass bottles being of a much later invention. Instead of having champagne [41]or
hock to be liberated from the bottle by the corkscrew at their feasts,
the guests filled their drinking cups of gold, silver, crystal or beechwood
from a two-handled amphora, a kind of earthenware pitcher, in which their
choice wines used to be kept. The mouths of these vessels were stopped
with wood and covered with a mastic, composed of pitch, chalk and oil
to prevent air spoiling the wine or evaporation taking place. Columella,
who wrote one of the earliest works on agriculture, gives directions
for preparing this cement.
The employment of cork for stoppers of bottles appears to have come
into use about the seventeenth century, when glass bottles, of which
no mention is made before the fifteenth century, began to be generally
introduced. Before that period apothecaries used stoppers of wax, which
were not only much more expensive but far more troublesome. In 1553,
when C. Stephanus wrote his
“Praedium Rusticum,” cork stoppers appear to have been very
little known in France, for he states that this material was used principally
for soles in that country. It is not known when cork and corks began
to be generally used, but in that very amusing and instructive diary
of Mr. Samuel Pepys the following entry is found: “14 July 1666” After
having written to the Duke of York for money for the fleet, I went down
Thames Street and there agreed for four or five tons of cork to be sent
to the fleet, being a new device to make barricados [42]with
instead of junts (old cable),” but he does not inform us how the
material answered.[32]
In Evelyn’s time (1664) cork was much used by old persons for
linings to the soles of their shoes, whence the German name for it, “Pantoffelholtz”
or slipper wood. The Venetian dames, Evelyn says, used it for their choppings
or high-heeled shoes to make them appear taller than nature intended
they should be. The poor of Spain lay planks of cork by their bedside
to tread on instead of carpets. Sometimes they line the inside of their
houses, built with stone, with this bark, which renders them very warm
and corrects the moisture of the air. Loudon relates that in the celebrated
convent at Cintra, Portugal, several articles of furniture are made of
this tree. Virgin cork, or the first bark of the tree, is now very much
used for window flower boxes, grottoes, etc., while the subsequent grades
are used for small architectural and geognostic models. Cork was formerly
employed in medicine even as far back as the time of Pliny, as he tells
us that the bark of the cork tree, pulverized and taken in warm water,
arrests hemorrhage at the mouth and nostrils, and the ashes of it taken
in warm wine are highly extolled as a cure for spitting blood (see Pliny, “Nat.
Hist.” b. 124). In modern time powdered cork has been applied as
a styptic and hung about the necks of nurses. It was thought to possess
the power of stopping the secretion of milk. Burnt cork mixed with [43]sugar
of lead has been used as an application to piles. See Pereira’s “Materia
Medica.”
Ground cork and India rubber formed the basis of Kamptulicon, the soft
unresounding material which covered the floor of the reading rooms of
the British Museum.” In further describing the many uses to which
cork is applied, reference is made to the résumé of Mr.
Good in “La Nature,” which is incorporated with a few slight
changes.
“The various applications of cork that we are now going to pass
in review are worthy of description, as each of such applications has
its raison d’être in one or more of the physical or
chemical properties of cork bark. The manufacture of stoppers utilizes,
in the first place, the impermeability of the bark, and, in the second,
the latter’s elasticity and imputrescibility, the remarkable lightness
playing no rôle therein.
Before entering upon a study of the industrial applications of cork,
in grouping them according to the various qualities of this product,
we must return to the “male” cork, derived from the first
barking of the tree. It has been said, because of its slight elasticity
and numerous fissures, this product has but little commercial value,
and shall have mentioned its principal application when we have stated
that it is used in the decoration of parks and gardens. An endeavor has
been made, but without success, to manufacture from it, mills for decorticating
rice.
Certain parts of it can be converted into small [44]stoppers.
In the country where it is produced, it is used for making water conduits,
beehives and shelves on which to preserve objects from dampness. Mixed
with a mortar of clay, the Kabyles use it for the walls of their dwellings,
and also, in lieu of tiles, as a roofing material for their primitive
habitations. It is used also by fishermen as floats for their nets.
These various applications were known to the Greeks and Romans, as shown
by the works of Theophrastus and Pliny. The latter says of the cork-oak: “Nothing
is utilized but its bark, which is very thick, and which is renewed in
measure as it is removed. This bark is often used for the buoys of anchors
and ships and of fishermen’s nets, for the bungs of casks, and
for women’s winter foot gear. The Greeks called the cork-oak the ‘bark
tree’.... Cork bark is used as a covering for roofs.” (“Hist.
Nat.,” xvi, 18.) As for the chips, they can be used as an isolating
material to prevent freezing. Reduced to fragments, they furnish an excellent
material for covering circus rings.
Let us return to “female” cork, which is much better adapted
for being worked, and the grain of which is much more homogeneous. In
this form cork bark constitutes a very bad conductor of heat and sound,
and renders valuable services in the industries as a material for preventing
the cooling of steam pipes and generators, and preventing the melting
of ice in ice houses, or the heating of apparatus for producing cold.
[45] It
is the basis of a certain number of cements, and coatings for preventing
the escape of heat, which are applied to pipes, steam domes, hot water
reservoirs, etc., and upon the composition of which we shall not dwell
here. As for jacketing with cork alone; the first method consists in
placing narrow strips of cork, whose edges touch each other, along steam
pipes and cylinders, and fastening them by means of wire. A pipe thus
jacketed is tangent internally to all these strips, and a section of
the whole shows a circle inscribed in a polygon. In the second system
thin strips of cork, fastened to canvas with India rubber cement, are
wound around the pipe spirally. Finally, a third method of jacketing
consists in the use of two half cylinders that exactly fit the exterior
of the steam pipe. These cylinders, which can be made of any desired
length, are made of powdered cork and starch, and are covered with a
spirally wound strip of calico, which may be coated with tar or any suitable
kind of paint. Each of these systems permits of obtaining a great saving
in fuel.
As cork is likewise a very bad conductor of sound, it is successfully
used on the doors of consulting rooms, and for making floors for hospitals,
etc. Finally, in the manufacture of certain stringed instruments, it
is used to prevent a loss of sound.
The slight density of cork, as compared with water, and its impermeability
to liquids, make it an excellent float, capable not only of remaining [46]on
the surface, but also of supporting quite heavy bodies thereon. We shall
be content to mention the annular cork float used in night lamps, the
square block in which bath thermometers are fixed, and the fisherman’s
dobber.
It is cork, too, that is used by preference in the manufacture of swimming
and life-saving apparatus, to which inventors have devoted much thought.
Very many vessels are provided with cork mattresses, which, in cases
of shipwreck, render the greatest services. For example, the ship Constant,
which sailed from Anvers for Brazil in 1845, was wrecked on the night
of October 12th, at twelve miles from St. Thanes, but, thanks to the
cork life preservers and mattresses that she had on board, not one of
the crew was lost. As for life-saving buoys, properly so called, they
consist of several cork planks which are given an annular form, and are
provided with free ropes that are knotted here and there so that they
may be easily grasped. From the stern of every vessel a buoy of this
kind is suspended by a rope that may be at once cut when the cry of “A
man overboard!” is heard. These buoys are usually covered with
canvas coated with a paint that serves to preserve it. It is also possible
to save a person who has fallen into the water at a certain distance
from a wharf by means of floats. This device consists of a piece of rattan
provided with points around which molten lead has been poured, and the
whole is then surrounded with cork in chips, and covered externally [47] with
canvas and a network to protect the affair against wear.
Fenders are canvas bags that are filled with cork and are placed along
the sides of ships or along docks in order to deaden the shock in case
of a collision. Such are the principal uses rendered to navigation by
cork.
It has already been seen, by the extract from Pliny, that Roman ladies
preserved their feet from cold by means of cork soles. Such a use of
cork is still in vogue. In addition to these soles, which are flat, there
are others that have nothing to do with hygiene, and are merely connected
with fashion. Such are the Louis Quatorze talonettes, designed to increase
the stature without exaggerating the heel of the shoe. Female dancers
wear linings of this kind in their shoes, which, as well known, have
flat soles. A thin sheet of cork enclosed in the sole of the shoe would,
we think, prove very useful to troops on a march during bad weather.
Cork is not only useful as an application to foot gear, but also renders
great service in head gear, and, in the form of helmets, has preserved
a large number of soldiers from death by sunstroke in tropical countries.
We find it again, in the form of very thin sheets, in the interior of
beaver hats, where it is used as a protection against heat. It is also
used in these same hats as a sweat band, in lieu of leather. In ladies’ toilets,
the cork serves to make the carcasses of the birds that decorate [48] their
head gear. Manufacturers of dress trimmings use cork molds, which they
cover with silk or cotton, for ornamenting cloaks, etc. The lightness
of cork can alone explain the great size of these balls, olives, etc.,
some of which are larger than a hen’s egg.
A few years ago, a Paris house sold cork cravats, and we have recently
seen, exposed in a show case, some children’s costumes, in which
the sailor’s collar was of thin sheet cork decorated with colored
designs. Although cork gowns have not yet appeared, we have waterproofs
composed of thin sheet cork cemented between two pieces of silk. These
cloaks have the advantage over those made of rubber of not allowing air
to pass through them.
There is also a curious application of cork in the manufacture of a
fabric that renders those who are clothed with it insubmergible.
We can mention but few of the many applications of cork, new ones of
which are being discovered every day, so shall confine ourselves to recalling
the services rendered by this valuable product in surgical prosthesis
and for the use of naturalists, etc. In domestic life, it is used for
bath steps, and for making rolling pins for crushing almonds without
absorbing the oils as wood would do. Thin sheets of it are used for making
fancy labels for wines. The ease with which it may be cut, turned and
worked causes it to be employed in the manufacture of small objects,
such as rural landscapes and the reproductions of [49] monuments,
some of which are genuine works of art. We may likewise mention, among
objects made of cork, cases of various forms for sending bottles by mail,
spools for allowing of the cheap carriage of silk, the old-fashioned
inkstand, the thick penholder for preventing writer’s cramp, the
cigar holder and many fancy objects that would take too long to enumerate.
There is perhaps no calling that does not have to make more or less use
of cork. Polishers of gold have used it from time immemorial, in the
form of narrow strips, for rubbing their work with rouge. The wheels
with which crystals are polished are faced with it, and watchmaker’s
lens mounted in cork, the lightness of which prevents the muscles of
the face from tiring.
In the industries, driving pulleys are now beginning to be provided
with cork in order to secure an adhesion of the belting. In carpenter
shops these bands of cork are now advantageously replacing rubber ones
for covering the pulleys over which the band saw runs. The stoppers of
nursing bottles are now being replaced by hygienic ones of cork, which,
being very cheap, can be changed as soon as the presence of ferments
is suspected. Cork is likewise employed in the manufacture of children’s
toys; it serves, for example, for fixing the wig on dolls’ heads.
Is it necessary to recall the cork of pop-guns and pistols, and the cork
battledores and shuttlecocks used for playing with indoors? These few
data will serve to show that [50] but
few products are capable of so many diverse applications as cork is;
and the question may be asked whether it would be possible to substitute
anything else for it, in case the supply should become exhausted.
The manufacture of stoppers and of the various objects that we have
just enumerated furnishes a considerable quantity of chips, which along
with the waste derived from the collecting of the material, and with
old, second-hand corks, constitutes the crude material destined to supply
certain important industries, which, for the sake of completeness, must
be mentioned.
We have first the cork powder industry, which manufactures powders of
various degrees of fineness. The coarsest powder is used for packing
fragile objects, on account of its elasticity, coupled with its lightness,
which permits of a great saving in freight charges.
The finest powder forms, “liegine” or “suberine,”
whose balsamic properties are well known to hygienists, and which may
be used as a substitute for lycopodium, starch and fecula as an application
to the skin of babes. Under the name of
“zifa powder,” an insect powder has been made composed of
cork and phenol. Fire lighters have likewise been made from cork powder;
but this and the last named application have not amounted to much.
We cannot enter into much detail in regard to the manufacture of linoleum,
notwithstanding the [51]interest
that it presents. The manufacture began in Scotland, and is tending to
settle in our own country. Linoleum is made by intimately mixing cork
powder with oxidized linseed oil. The paste thus prepared is spread over
canvas if the intention is to manufacture carpets, but over paper if
it is desired to make hangings. The color of linoleum, which is the same
as that of cork, only a shade darker, can be enlivened by colored designs.
When applied to damp walls, linoleum is capable of receiving oil paintings
of a more stable nature than those executed upon wood, which warps, or
upon other building materials, which crack, such as plaster, for example.
It can also be used for decorated ceilings for public halls, cafes, etc.;
and when such ceilings become black through smoke and dust, they can
be washed.
As a carpet, linoleum renders flooring perfectly insonorous. It converts
damp and unhealthy apartments into healthy and warm places of habitation.
Used in kitchens and offices, it has the advantage of not being spotted
by fatty matters. It has been generally adopted in our naval and merchant
ships, where the use of it has given a great setback to the oil cloth
industry.
A new decorative product, “lino-burgau,” obtained by embossing
linoleum, possesses the iridescent reflections of nacre, due to the application
of colored varnish along with a bronzing of certain parts. Notwithstanding
its expensive nature, we believe that there is a great future in store
for it.
[52] The
manufacture of agglomerates of cork is becoming very widespread in France.
We have already mentioned the use of artificial cork for jacketing steam
pipes, and we have stated that this product is obtained by mixing cork
powder and starch under pressure. This dried paste can be given the most
diverse forms, and be made of any thickness. Another substance, called
brick paste, is obtained by mixing the coarsest cork powder with milk
of lime, and, after compression and drying, constitutes, under the form
of bricks and slabs, an excellent material for the construction of party
walls, for covering damp walls and sloping roofs.
In the cellars of breweries, these bricks diminish the melting of the
ice. In gunpowder works, they prevent the caking of the powder through
dampness, and, in case of an explosion, their friability and lightness
lessen the importance of the catastrophe. They are also used as a foundation
for flooring in order to destroy its disagreeable sonorousness. In the
spinning mills of Alsace and the west of France, they have given excellent
results, both as regards their resistance to the passage of sound, heat
and cold, and their cheapness.
Cork chips and waste, when distilled, furnish an illuminating gas that
burns with more brilliancy than that made from coal, and does not, like
the latter, give off sulphureous emanations that tarnish frames and other
gilded objects. The city of Nerac was lighted with cork gas for a certain
length of time, but the use of it had to be given up on [53] account
of the difficulty of storing the chips, which, with but little weight,
took up an enormous space. This gas, in view of its slight density and
its purity, would prove an excellent one for the inflation of balloons.
Finally, cork parings and waste, properly carbonized, produce Spanish
or cork black, one of the most beautiful and durable blacks known in
painting.”
The recent uses for corkwood are, as a float in the carburetter of an
automobile, the cork insert in the periphery of a pulley,[33] cork
paper for cigarette tips, a wadding for shot-gun cartridges, cork-coated
fabric for balloons, as a filling for automobile tires, as a disk in
the non-refillable bottle, for the making of casks and barrels in which
to store wine, and the ground cork wood for shipping fruit, etc. in,
to prevent spoiling.
Of course, no matter what the substance, a substitute is always sought
for, and this has been the case with cork, but with very unfruitful results. “A
primitive material used for bottle stoppers consisted of the roots of
liquorice; the spongy substance of another tree called ‘Spondies
Lutea,’ which abounds throughout the marshy regions of South America
and there called ‘Monbia,’
was also used in the same way, as also a [54] product
called ‘Myssa,’ which contains some of the elements of cork.[34] Another
substitute is mentioned in Henley’s “Twentieth Century Receipts”
as follows: Wood pulp three parts; cornstarch pith one part; gelatin
one part; glycerine one part; water four parts; 20 per cent solution
formic aldehyde; and still another in the “Handyman’s ‘Inquire
Within,’” by Haslock, called “Phellosene,”
a French invention consisting of powdered cork mixed with a solution
of nitro-cellulose in acetone: compressed and dried. The wood of Anona
palustris growing in the West Indies, and called the alligator’s
apple, is used by the negroes to stop their jugs and calabashes also,
and a Mr. Brockedon invented a substitute as noted in “Knight’s
Cyclopedia,”
the core of which was cotton twisted into strands, wound with flax and
the whole covered with India rubber. Cork’s competitor in buoyancy,
“balsa wood,” is in no wise constituted to take its place,
although 20 per cent lighter; as it is a fibrous growth and hygroscopic,
requiring a coat of water-proofing solution before it can be used even
for life-preservers; rubber, its close second, in the manufacture of
stoppers is not to be compared with it, and although there have been
many patent devices for sealing bottles, such as the porcelain stopper,
crimped metal stoppers, etc., the cork stopper still reigns as the best
of them all.
[55]
IN describing the manner and process of
converting the corkwood into the various commercial forms, no attempt
will be made to give a scientific exposition of all the details, as being
inconsistent with the character of this monograph, nor will [56] any
other processes be described than the ones in which the material being
worked, is cork. This may exclude much of interest to the reader, but
the intent of this little work is purely a corkwood exposition, and the
desire to keep it so must prevail.
In taking up the processes of manipulation we naturally start from the
beginning, but the beginning in this case has a peculiar significance
as relating to the whole, for it is apparent to utilize corkwood to the
fullest extent its qualities must be studied and the best, used first,
so that the beginning of the corkwood industry is peculiar in this fact,
that it takes the best part and leaves but scrap, which must be studied
carefully to realize the value lost in the first process; therefore,
in the manufacture of one article of corkwood it is necessary to make
provision for the scrap created, and this is a characteristic of all
such establishments.
The baled cork, as received, is our first consideration, for its bulk,
being out of all proportion to its value, attracts the attention at once.
As in all business where the raw stock is conveyed from a distance and
there is a possibility of delay in shipments, a large stock must necessarily
be kept on hand, and this feature is very pronounced in and about a “cork
factory.” Great piles appear in the open or within large sheds, [57] covering
much space, and sometimes in the factory itself.
This stock is carefully watched and care taken to keep it large enough
to supply all needs for a long time as a shortage in raw material would
not only mean no work, but the loss of business, due to the inability
to supply first-grade material, for this is the prime factor, the various
other grades being compelled to await a favorable market. Appended is
a diagram that will give some idea of the utilization of corkwood.
The corkwood bale as received, measures as a general rule 2′ × 2′7″ ×
4′ and is securely strapped with iron bands about one inch in width
and a thickness of 1⁄16″ to 1⁄32″,
and the weight depending upon the quality of corkwood ranging from 150
pounds to 200 pounds per bale.
The first operation, that is, the first thing done with the corkwood,
is the sorting. This is becoming more important as the uses of cork increase,
as various grades can be used for so many particular things now, without
the necessity of being called a by-product; but the principal divisions
are: superfine, fine, common and coarse.
These of course are now extended to many classes, and is resulting in
careful scrutiny of the shipments and stock, the sorter becoming an expert,
and an increasing factor in the business. His [58] knowledge
not only including the grades of corkwood, but the uses to which the
various grades may be put so that waste is avoided and the full value
gotten out of all.
After the sorting, the slabs are placed in steam boxes and subjected
to a steam bath, which it is claimed softens the material and also prepares
it for the scraper, who cleans and removes the dirt and callous or “raspa” accumulated
in its mountain home. This scraping is done either by hand or machine,
the handwork being done with a short handle, curved bladed knife called
a “doladera,”
raspador or raspeta: a workman being able to scrape from two to three
metric quintals of cork in a day, or ten hours. The scraper machine being
a vertical steel shaft carrying several knives placed at a very slight
helix and making about 1400 revolutions per minute and will scrape from
ten to twelve metric quintals[35] per
day or ten hours. Cutting the slabs into strips or fillets (tiras ó’rebanadas)
is the next step. These strips, the width of which is equal to the length
of the cork to be cut, as the cutting is done across and not with the
grain, were formerly cut by hand with a knife having a flat surface and
curved edge called “cuchilla de rebanar,” [59] but
now replaced by the circular knife, which operates the same as a rip-saw.
From here the strips go to the stopper-makers’ punches or blocking
machines. This machine has a rotating tubular die with sharpened edges
of the diameter of the cork to be cut, made to revolve about two thousand
revolutions per minute, the operator having a foot lever attachment which
permits him to thrust the die through the strips of cork as he holds
it against a resisting piece parallel with the operating plane of the
die. Thus, he can punch out many thousands of corks a day, the noise
of the punches being a very characteristic sound in all such establishments.
The operator, of course, must use care to avoid defective spots in the
bark, and also to cut the corks out as closely together as possible so
as to reduce waste to a minimum. For it is here that the cork manufacturer
seems to lay his particular lament. If he could but make his corks the
sizes most in demand, ship them and thereby do a business that would
clearly figure up the year’s work, and perhaps keep a surplus on
hand for unexpected orders. But this he cannot do, for almost every cork
he cuts there is enough waste material to make three or four smaller
sizes, and this he fain would discard if it were not for the possible
profit there is in it; and consequently in almost every cork factory
will be found a large surplus stock of all sizes, and the owner anxiously
hoping that some one will take them off his hands.
[60]The
stoppers which come from these machines are round with parallel sides.
If tapered corks are desired, larger at the upper end than at the lower,
the cylindrical or straight pieces must be passed through another machine
which handles them deftly, holding them against the edge of another circular
knife; seemingly motionless, the only outward indication of the speed
with which the keen blade is revolving being a delicate shaving which
curls upward for an instant, and then is drawn away by air suction to
the waste bin, where this material is all collected and used in various,
useful ways as will be shown later. In cutting the corks, although care
is exercised, many will be imperfect and defective, and in order to utilize
them they are cut into smaller sizes by men who sit at low tables and
deftly handle the sharp-edged knife, which with one stroke reduces the
cork to the size that it can fill, using a scale which is apparently
standard with all cork dealers.
The general standard of corks or stoppers, known as the United States
standard, is as follows:
[61]
Scale Of Diameter Of Stoppers
United States Standard, showing Diameter at Large
End
| No. |
0 |
|
3⁄8 |
inch |
|
No. |
1 |
|
7⁄8 |
inch. |
| “ |
2 |
|
1⁄2 |
“ |
|
“ |
3 |
|
9⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
4 |
|
5⁄8 |
“ |
|
“ |
5 |
|
11⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
6 |
|
3⁄4 |
“ |
|
“ |
7 |
|
13⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
8 |
|
7⁄8 |
“ |
|
“ |
9 |
|
15⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
10 |
1 |
|
“ |
|
“ |
11 |
1 |
1⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
12 |
1 |
1⁄8 |
“ |
|
“ |
13 |
1 |
3⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
14 |
1 |
1⁄4 |
“ |
|
“ |
15 |
1 |
5⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
16 |
1 |
3⁄8 |
“ |
|
“ |
17 |
1 |
7⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
18 |
1 |
1⁄2 |
“ |
|
“ |
19 |
1 |
9⁄16 |
“ |
| “ |
20 |
1 |
5⁄8 |
“ |
|
“ |
24 |
1 |
7⁄8 |
“ |
| “ |
22 |
1 |
3⁄4 |
“ |
|
“ |
26 |
2 |
|
“ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This classification of necessity applies to the trade and gives a size
for almost any character of work there is, though another general classification
that is used principally abroad, is as follows:—
Thick corks having more than 31 millimeters[36] in
diameter.
Ordinary or commercial, from 25 to 31 millimeters.
Bastard corks, from 23 to 25 millimeters.
Thin corks, having less than 23 millimeters.
These classes of sizes are of course divided again and again by the
manufacturers. To this size classification must be added a quality distinction,
and this generally takes the same as before described, [62]in
sorting the cork-board, grading down from the best which is tawny or
pink in color, with a fine texture, free from cracks, stone cells, or
other blemishes.
As has been stated, the punch is now employed in most corkwood establishments,
but there are still a few who do the work by hand and maintain that the
best results are obtained in this manner.
Hand-cut corks or stoppers are used mostly for the high-class wine trade
and are a little more expensive than machine cut. There is also a hand
machine for shaping corks, which consists of a knife, the blade of which
is placed horizontally, joined generally to a piece of wood, to which
a back and forward movement is given similar to that of a carpenter’s
plane. In moving, the knife turns the square cork, or whatever shape
it may be, by a series of belt attachments, and takes off a strip of
cork (palilla) more or less thick, according to the distance from the
axis of the cork and the edge of the blade; the principle being the same
in the power machine, if these are parallel the resulting cork will be
cylindrical, and if not, it becomes conical.
The standard size stopper is the prime use to which corkwood has been
put, and in the making of it the best material is used; this material
coming in varying thicknesses, it sometimes is difficult to secure enough
for making “champagnes,”
so some manufacturers produce a stopper that answers the requirements
by fastening two pieces of thin superfine corkwood together with a rubber [63] cement
made by dissolving pure Para rubber in disulphide of carbon, which makes
a very good binder and not lessening the quality service to any appreciable
degree.
After the corks are cut, the ends are not always as even and as smooth
as desired, so they are taken to a sandpaper wheel which revolves very
rapidly in an upright position, and against this the corks are held for
a few seconds until the surface becomes smooth and straight, the dust
created being collected and used in various ways. (See “Waste
Utilization.”)
(See “Waste Utilization”)
Since the Crown Seal stopper, for beer bottles particularly, has come
into vogue, there has been a great demand for cork disks which form the
medium for air tightness and this has given the cork-worker an opportunity
to utilize a grade of corkwood that usually had but little commercial
value, that is, a thin bark.
It may be well to state here for the uninitiated that the Crown Seal
is made up of a tin cap, corrugated on the lapped edge, for gripping
the top of the bottle, a corkwood disk and a water-proof paper between
the disk and cap, a very ingenious device.
As you have already read in a previous chapter that corks are cut vertical
parallel, or, to state [64] more
clearly, the axis of the stopper must be parallel with the axis of the
tree that furnished the bark; and the desired direction is easily recognizable
by the colored striae due to the annual layers of suberous substance
that are observed in the direction of its axis, this rule being followed
because cork is found to be more impervious to liquids if cut in this
manner. It will be readily seen that if disks are cut horizontally parallel,
that is, the annual layers running at right angles to the axis of the
disk, this grade of cork can be utilized to great advantage. The mode
of cutting is by a horizontal revolving blade, which slices the cork
to the desired thickness, usually a quarter of an inch, and then it follows
the usual course of punching, etc. From these operations a great deal
of waste accumulates, and this would be a great loss if methods were
not devised for its utilization. Many firms work up this waste on the
premises, but most of it is shipped out and its conversion forms a separate
part of the corkwood industry, which will be described later. We might
say now that the cork is made, for it has been cut and shaped into the
desired commercial size; and all that remains is to sort them and ship
them away. But if commerce desires sizes and quality, it has also exacted
many other requirements of a cork before it is acceptable and we will
now take up the further manipulation of cork before it leaves the factory.
Naturally, this corkwood, coming such a distance and being handled by
so many in the [65] general
processes just described, gets more or less dirty, and aside from that
perhaps in the growing the tissue has not remained as white as is desired,
so before the cork can leave the factory it has to be washed or cleaned.
And in this washing I will not say that there is not an attempt to improve
the looks of the corks in order to get a better price. Now this washing
or bleaching is carried on in the simplest manner and is just soaking
the corks in water and a chemical and then placing them in a centrifugal
spinner, which is nothing more than a perforated receptacle made to revolve
within an iron jacket, which is connected to a drain, naturally forcing
the material against the periphery and thereby causing the excess water
and acid to pass out through the perforations, this system becoming quite
common in cork factories to-day, greatly facilitating the drying, which
is done mostly by the atmosphere. This is all there is to the mechanical
part, but curiosity prompts us to inquire what chemicals are used to
clean the corks, so I have ascertained the principal ones, but of course
every manufacturer will have his own way of doing this part of the work,
although the principle remains the same. An old way was to wash them
in water containing chloride of tin or oxalic acid and then subjecting
them to the fumes of burning sulphur, but the sulphur bleach has been
discontinued. Bioxalate of potash has also been used in solution, as
also chloride of lime, ammonia and sulphuric acid. Another way is to [66] wash
in a 10 per cent solution of hydrochloric acid and then immerse in a
solution of sodium hyposulphate and hydrochloric acid, finally washing
with a solution of soda and water. All of these produce the desired effect
when mere cleaning and bleaching is all that is required: but in the
poorer grade of cork, mostly a thick cork that has been jaspered or contains
micro-organisms, a system of treatment with formol or methylal, ethyl
alcohol or spirit wine and formaldehyde and impregnating with casein
has been used. These bleaches are applied to regular stoppers and disks
alike, but in addition to this the disks are given a bath of hot paraffin,
or glycerine and paraffin, which improves their resistance and retards
discoloration. This generally being done in a steam-jacketed kettle,
or tumbling barrel, and then placed in a centrifugal to remove the excess
of water and paraffin.
In some factories, and when the customer requests it, the name is branded
upon the stopper by irons heated by gas, gasolene or in a coal fire,
automatic gas heated machines being most general.
In the foregoing it has been shown how the stopper and disk are made,
and although there are many different manufacturers of corkwood stoppers,
it will be found that the modus operandi just described is followed
generally, with perhaps a variation in the details. The waste material, “recortes”
as stated is collected and used in various ways, but [67] either
in conjunction with other materials or alone in a granulated or powdered
state.
The following chapter will enumerate the three principal uses of waste
corkwood, and as these cover the fundamentals of the other uses it will
not be necessary to describe them, e.g., linoleum, made by mixing cork-flour
and linseed oil.
[68]
In giving the processes of the methods used in the conversion of the
corkwood waste and virgin corkwood, which is classed as waste, it will
not be possible to go too far into the details, as most of them are secret,
and in justice to those who use them a résumé is all that
will be incorporated in this monograph. But this will give a good idea
and understanding of the utilization, which is all that is intended.
As in the first processes of corkwood manipulation the best is taken
first; so, in the department of waste utilization, a process is now used
whereby the best scrap is made into cork disks for the Crown seal as
described, and serves its purpose well.
This scrap is taken and granulated in an iron rotary cutter mill, to
a degree of fineness that will pass a 1⁄8″ mesh,
it is then screened and mixed with a secret binder that has a wonderful
holding quality; it is then dried by steam and pressed into sheets by
hydraulic presses, dried again, and then stamped out in the usual manner.
There is no waste to this process as the unused portions go back to the
grinders again and through the usual process.
Granulated cork is made by grinding the waste in ordinary metal roller,
cage or bur mills, and then [69] screening
same for the various degrees of fineness; if cork-flour is desired, a
tube mill may be used.
These two uses are generally confined to the best scrap, but there still
remains a large quantity which has a great value. A portion of this is
made into Spanish black by carbonizing same in a closed iron kettle,
or retort, and then grinding same in a regulation ball mill, until the
desired fineness is obtained; this process producing a very fine black.
The above uses in no degree exhaust the amount of scrap corkwood that
leaves the various factories here and abroad, nor is its usefulness expended,
for there is one use to which cork scrap is being put that bids fair
to rival the stopper industry in importance, and that is in the form
of cork-board for insulating purposes.
The processes for the making of cork-board differ in many ways, widely
divergent in principle. The corkwood waste and virgin cork are broken
up and chipped in an ordinary iron mill as a preliminary to all processes;
in one, claimed to be the best, this chipped material is poured into
iron molds the desired shape of the slab, subjected to heavy pressure
and run into an oven kept at about 800 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. This
oven, being a low brick type, resembling a lear and heated by coal fires,
the slab molds being drawn through on an endless chain, which runs at
a speed to keep the cork in just long enough, for the resin in same to
exude and bind the little particles together; the cork is also charred
in this process, thereby converting [70] it
into a carbonized cellulose which makes it an excellent material for
insulation. Steam-heated hydraulic presses are also used for making small
tile, etc., being the same principle as above, without the charring.
The other process involves the use of tar, pitch or asphaltum, as a
binder for the cork particles, and in one, the cork is mixed with a clay
before being mixed with the asphaltum. The binder being heated in steam
jacketed kettles, and in one it is mixed in the proportion of one to
four, while in the other it is forced into the mass under pressure and
then drawn out again by vacuum, both mixtures being poured into molds
of the desired shape of the slab or in large molds, to be cut up after,
and subjected to heavy pressure, the sawing being done by an ordinary
rip-saw, cutting the block into any desired thickness of slab.
The above described processes do not include all of the various manipulations
of corkwood, for there are innumerable things as stated under the
“Uses” for which there is a necessity of mechanical operation,
in their making; but the general processes are as stated and will cover
most all.
[71]
The cork stopper industry had its permanent origin in Spain, in the
Province of Gerona, town of Llacostera, towards the latter part of 1750
and was contemporaneous with the inception of the glass bottle, although
corkwood was used many years before as a stopper for amphora, etc., as
noted in a previous chapter.
The trade flourished there until wars and schisms rent the country and
drove the industry to the mountains. There it slumbered and struggled
for many years until the peace was restored and the people assured that
the dangers were passed. Its revival was not very sudden, but slowly
and surely it grew, and won itself a place in the trade life of Spain
and finally became a necessity, so much so, that it began to attract
attention and other countries sought to secure the secret. About 1828
the French agents at Catalonia found enough information to warrant them
returning to France and there set up for themselves, the rivalry between
the two becoming very keen, causing much excitement among the Spanish
manufacturers; for up to that time they monopolized the trade and had
a nice time of it. This lasted until 1849, when the trade [72]assumed
such proportions that both had all they could attend to and more. This
insured a steady increase of the trade, and before long it assumed proportions
that has surpassed the dreams of its founders. The industry spread until
the raw material began to show a shortage due to the heavy demands made
upon it. More frequent cuttings were compulsory to supply the market,
and in consequence the grade became poorer.
The realization of this caused the Spanish Government to step in and
protect the forests as a national necessity, and the result was the passing
of laws to govern the cutting of corkwood from the trees. But the trade
kept on growing in other countries and the raw stock was in great demand.
The result of the heavy exportation of corkwood again caused some notable
alarm among the manufacturers and trades-workers in Spain and Portugal,
but principally in the former, as most of the largest factories are located
in its cities; so that the principal representatives of the cork industry
convened at Madrid in December of 1911, at which convention resolutions
were passed to urge upon the Government the necessity of imposing an
export tax or duty on corkwood ranging from five to fifty gold pesetas
($.0965 to $9.65) per 100 kilos (220 pounds). By so doing it was thought
to remedy the shortage in the home market.
The competition between the foreign and Spanish [73] buyers
for the raw corkwood output was largely in favor of the foreigner in
1911, owing to the unprotective export duties, and the result has been
that the once flourishing national industry is now very badly handicapped
for want of working material.
So simultaneously with the tariff revision, which went into effect on
January 1, 1912, an endeavor was made to put in force the increase on
export corkwood, but owing to the efforts of the American cork manufacturers,
who have a great influence over the Spanish cork industry, the proposed
increase did not meet with the desired success.
In the attempt to restrict the importation of raw material the Spaniards
have failed, for its usefulness makes the demand too great and the foreigners
have invaded the Iberian Peninsula and are now buying up even the raw
stock on the trees. The corkwood markets are no longer confined to two
or three, but extend round the world, the principal ones being: London,
Paris, Rheims, Epernay, Maguncia, Dresden, New York, Pittsburgh, San
Francisco, Buenos Ayres, Calcutta, Sydney, Melbourne and Yeddo. So it
will be seen that a great demand is being made upon the forests, which
must be cultivated for increased growth and production or an early investigation
made for the growing of the trees in other countries.
Of course the industry remains very strong throughout Spain and Portugal,
and particularly in [74] the
Andalusia District of Spain, where the manufacturing establishments play
an important part in converting the corkwood into useful articles of
commerce. The Spanish yield of raw material has remained slightly behind
Portugal, but this does not affect the former’s influence in the
trade. (See Appendix.)
It is inevitable that the greatest bulk of the trade should center around
the countries in which the raw material is grown, for the greatest advantage
is thus gained by those, so fortunate in their location.
But the spread of the corkwood’s fame has aroused others to action,
and it appears as though the monopoly will suffer because of that fame.
The demand grows daily, and the rapid growth of the American trade bids
fair to being a very close rival to the long-established European manufactures
at least.
The waste is rapidly assuming great importance and to this the newer
entrant in the business is turning all his energy. The doctrine of conservation
and utilization has been heeded by the corkwood industry and the waste
is no longer such, rather standing as a cork product second only to the
stopper, when the fact is considered that the grower or farmer receives
about $58 per ton for raw corkwood and the waste sells from $22 to $32
per ton; its value is apparent.
A notable feature of the shipments from Spain [75] is
the waste and shavings, which doubled from 1906 to 1910, viz.:
| 1906—14,624 tons |
1909—20,198 tons |
| 1907—17,557 “ |
1910—29,257 “ |
| 1908—12,201 “ |
|
The uses to which corkwood may be put are unlimited, and as has been
seen the uses already known are sufficient, in themselves, to make it
a very important commodity. And yet when we speak of uses it is only
those that have developed by reason of the corkwood’s own peculiarity
that makes it the subject of discussion, and not the great number that
it has been adapted to, for perhaps its utility will have no end, and
in my estimation its particular qualities are but little appreciated.
Of course its application as a stopper is ideal for that purpose, but
it appears most certain that this wonderful growth is designed to be
of greater service to man than the mere function of filling the neck
of a bottle. Chemically, I think it has possibilities; the ancients found
it useful in Materia Medica, and there may still be a use in this line.
At any rate, it is the most wonderful bark of its kind, its service has
been a long one, and its benefits, even as a stopper, have been many.
A wonderful material truly, and of interest, so full that it seems I
have failed to do it justice in these few words presented in my endeavor
to describe the Quercus Suber of Linnæus.
[76]
For those who may be interested in a few statistics of the trade is
appended the following figures relating to the Spanish and American industry:
Spanish Industry, 1912
There were 892 factories throughout Spain in 1912, in 107 towns and
cities, divided as follows:
| Seville District |
305 in 48 |
towns |
| Barcelona District |
507 in 31 |
“ |
| Other Districts |
80 in 28 |
“ |
These factories employ approximately 40,000 people in the various branches
of the industry at an average daily wage of 67 cents.
The raw material yield for 1912 is reported as: 7800 short tons, valued
at $57.90 per ton to the grower, or $4,516,200.
It will also be of interest to show a few comparisons of values, for
various years, in shipments to foreign parts, viz.:
[77]1909
| Description |
Pounds |
Value |
| Cork in sheets |
11,009,939 |
$405,366 |
| Cork squares |
1,180,489 |
265,610 |
| Corks |
11,960,760 |
4,870,948 |
| Cork shavings |
66,435,426 |
363,563 |
| Other manufactured cork |
864,820 |
40,656 |
|
————— |
————— |
| Total |
91,451,434 |
$5,946,143 |
1910
| Description |
Pounds |
Value |
| Cork in sheets |
16,798,492 |
$618,489 |
| Cork squares |
2,055,865 |
462,472 |
| Corks |
14,924,052 |
6,105,294 |
| Cork shavings |
64,367,448 |
526,642 |
| Other manufactured cork |
1,190,789 |
57,382 |
|
————— |
————— |
| Total |
99,336,646 |
$7,770,279 |
| Corrected figures showing totals as |
109,336,646 |
$7,942,677 |
[78]1911
| Description |
Pounds |
Value |
| Cork in sheets |
21,564,347 |
$741,029 |
| Cork squares |
2,076,881 |
467,298 |
| Corks |
17,817,037 |
7,288,787 |
| Cork waste |
73,510,473 |
591,468 |
| Cork, manufactured in other forms |
1,828,030 |
89,723 |
|
————— |
————— |
| Total |
116,796,768 |
$9,178,305 |
1912
| Description |
Pounds |
Value |
| Corkwood |
17,928,000 |
$528,810 |
| Cork squares |
1,492,000 |
356,229 |
Corks mfrd.}
Cork waste |
100,396,000 |
{7,864,299
754,848 |
| Other mfrs. |
1,166,000 |
49,783 |
|
————— |
————— |
|
120,982,000 |
$9,553,969 |
[79]The
following is a comparison of the first six months of 1909, 1910 and 1911.
1909
| Articles |
Tons |
Value |
| Corkwood |
1,686 |
$158,644 |
| Cork squares |
262 |
129,646 |
| Corks |
2,624 |
2,361,620 |
| Cork waste and shavings |
9,589 |
172,604 |
| Cork, other manufactures |
211 |
25,987 |
1910
| Articles |
Tons |
Value |
| Corkwood |
3,157 |
$255,718 |
| Cork squares |
485 |
240,057 |
| Corks |
3,629 |
3,265,760 |
| Cork waste and shavings |
13,935 |
205,822 |
| Cork, other manufactures |
251 |
27,133 |
[80]1911
| Articles |
Tons |
Value |
| Corkwood |
5,129 |
$415,432 |
| Cork squares |
442 |
218,755 |
| Corks |
4,057 |
3,669,075 |
| Cork waste and shavings |
18,143 |
326,573 |
| Cork, other manufactures |
248 |
32,657 |
The statistics showing the shipments to various countries are for 1909:
| United States |
2,065 |
— |
158 |
7,594 |
280 |
10,097 |
| Great Britain |
842 |
1,094 |
4 |
7,539 |
38 |
9,518 |
| Germany |
5 |
18 |
715 |
4,555 |
— |
5,293 |
| France |
1,256 |
276 |
2,044 |
189 |
56 |
3,821 |
| Italy |
6 |
79 |
435 |
11 |
— |
532 |
| Belgium |
164 |
— |
136 |
215 |
11 |
526 |
| Russia |
463 |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
464 |
| Aust-Hungary |
— |
30 |
346 |
— |
— |
376 |
| Argentina |
164 |
123 |
57 |
— |
— |
344 |
| Other |
40 |
7 |
426 |
95 |
9 |
575 |
|
——— |
——— |
——— |
——— |
——— |
——— |
| Total |
5,005 |
537 |
5,412 |
20,198 |
394 |
31,546 |
[81]
American Industry
In 1899, there were 62 factories in the United States of varying sizes
and located in the following states: New York (Brooklyn), Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Employing 2340 wage earners. Importing a raw stock of $2,404,000, and
making products valued at $4,392,000.
In 1904, the factories decreased to 50 in number, the wage earners increased
to 2895, the imported raw material to $2,459,197 and the products to
$4,490,952.
In 1909, the factories increasing again to 62 in number, the wage earners
to 3142, the imported raw material to $3,435,000 and the products to
$5,940,000: corks selling from 3 cents to 40 cents per pound.
This of course does not appear to be a very extensive business, but
the nature of the commodity will readily convince that the money figures
are not at all in comparison to the bulk of corkwood, for it would really
seem that if the trade should increase to an amount sufficient to vie
with other prominent ones, the ships would be at loss how to stow the
other freight. The imports of corkwood into this country and the exports,
for comparison, may be seen in the following tables:
[82]Imports
| January |
Seven Months ending January |
| 1912 |
1913 |
1911 |
1912 |
1913 |
| Corkwood, Free: |
|
|
|
| $450,082 |
$367,884 |
$2,265,373 |
$1,849,550 |
$1,707,164 |
| Corks mfrd., Dutiable: |
|
|
|
| $181,252 |
130,580 |
1,380,109 |
1,137,504 |
1,180,816 |
Exports
|
January |
Seven Months ending January |
|
1912 |
1913 |
1912 |
1913 |
| Corkwood, Free: |
$1,518 |
$1,195 |
$19,795 |
$22,393 |
| Corks mfrd., Dutiable: |
209 |
1,086 |
3,078 |
2,170 |
And the periods ending December, 1913 will be of interest also.
Imports
| December |
Twelve
Months ending December |
| 1912 |
1913 |
1911 |
1912 |
1913 |
| Corkwood, Free: |
|
|
|
| $300,253 |
$468,937 |
$3,819,651 |
$3,182,131 |
$3,616,177 |
| Corks mfrd., Dutiable: |
|
|
|
| $164,711 |
194,457 |
2,070,672 |
2,440,399 |
2,370,527 |
[83]
Exports
|
December |
Twelve Months ending December |
|
1912 |
1913 |
1912 |
1913 |
| Corkwood, Free: |
$2,960 |
— |
$34,404 |
$25,091 |
| Corks mfrd., Dutiable: |
— |
$8,335 |
5,552 |
5,392 |
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Transcriber’s
Notes
- Drop capitals at the beginning of the chapters do not appear in every
chapter in the original work.
- Footnotes have been renumbered and then moved from bottom of the
relevant page to after the Appendix.
- Contents: “Quercus Liber” appears in Contents as a chapter
but is typeset in the original work (page 5) as a section. The original
work formatting has been retained.
- Contents: “The Tree and Growth” appears in Contents
as a chapter but is typeset in the original work (page 12) as a section.
The original work formatting has been retained.
- Contents: “Substitutes” appears in Contents as a chapter
but is typeset in the original work (page 53) as a section. The original
work formatting has been retained.
- Contents: “Waste utilization” appears in Contents as
a section but is typeset in the original work (page 68) as a chapter.
The original work formatting has been retained.
- Page 5: Vaniçek may be misspelled.
- Page 6: Grammatic may be misspelled.
- Page 32, molecular structure diagram: The right-hand CH2 groups
should be connected.
- Footnote 21: “Etymology of Word” is not found in the
original work. The chapter in Contents entitled “Quercus Liber
(Linnæus)” et seq. gives
the etymology.
- Unmatched quotation marks have been retained. The original work text
is shown in curly brackets, { }, and italics for clarity.
- Page 22: The closing quotation mark for {Again, “It
is produced} was not found.
- Page 41: The quotation mark at {July 1666” After}
is apparently used to set off the date from the diary entry. The
closing quotation mark for the diary entry is at {junts (old
cable),” but}.
- Page 43: The opening quotation mark for {the British Museum.”}
was not found.
- Page 43: The closing quotation mark for {“The various
applications} is possibly at {blacks known in painting.”}
on page 53. Otherwise, both quotation marks are likely unmatched.
- Page 53: The closing quotation mark for {results. “A
primitive material} was not found definitively but possibly
could be located immediately after {the elements of cork.}
on page 54.
- This work has been preserved as in the original, including archaic
and inconsistent spelling, punctuation and grammar, except as noted
below.
- Changes made to the main text:
- Preface: (Linneus) changed to (Linnæus).
- Page 5: Etymologische Worterbuch changed to Etymologisches
Wörterbuch.
- Page 8: korkeiche changed to Korkeiche.
- Page 11: Farenheit changed to Fahrenheit.
- Page 16: tree iself, which changed to tree itself,
which.
- Page 32: Cyclohaptanone changed to Cycloheptanone.
- Page 36: 7⁄16 changed to 7⁄16″.
- Page 54: actetone changed to acetone.
- Page 55: The cork manufacturing chart moved from within the paragraph
to immediately below the paragraph.
- Page 69: insultaing changed to insulating.
- Footnote 25: “m” signifying metal changed
to “M” signifying metal.
- Changes made to A SELECTED
LIST OF BOOKS ON CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY:
- Pages in the original work are numbered beginning with page 1.
They are renumbered herein in the format A-x (page 1 is A-1) to
avoid conflict with page numbers in the main ‘text.’
- Page 4, Church's Laboratory Guide: ‘cloth,’ changed
to ‘cloth.’
- Page 10, Olsen: ‘cloth.,’ changed to ‘cloth.’
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