Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/360

 356 CORK CORK (Lat. cortex, bark), the soft elastic bark of a species of oak (quercus suber) which grows abundantly in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Algeria, and the south of France. Commerce is in- debted to Portugal for its largest supply. When the tree is 15 years old the barking is com- menced, and may be repeated every eight or Cork Oak (Quercus suber). ten years afterward, the cork increasing in quantity though not in quality at each opera- tion. Trees thus barked will, it is said, live 150 years. The cork is removed from the trees in July and August. This is done by making in- cisions around the tree and longitudinally to the root, when the pieces are easily detached. Cork Tree Cutting Bark. These are then soaked in water, pressed under heavy weights, dried before a fire, and stacked or packed in bales for exportation. The cork cutters divide the sheets of cork into narrow strips, and, after cutting these of the proper length, round them into a cylindrical form with a very sharp, thin-bladed knife. Of late years, however, corks are made in vast num- bers by a machine of American invention, with which a man will make more in a day than he could by hand in 20 days. The hand-made corks, however, are the best. Spanish black is made from the burnt parings of cork. Cork and its uses were known among the ancients, but it does not appear to have been common until the 15th century, when glass bottles first came into general use. Cork is employed in various ways, but especially for stopping ves- sels containing liquids, and, on account of its buoyancy in water, in the construction of life boats. It is also used in the manufacture of life-preservers and cork jackets. This inven- tion appears to be of very early date, as Plu- tarch in his life of Camillus refers to it. About 6,000 tons of cork bark are annually shipped from cork-producing countries, and an equal quantity used for home consumption. CORK. I. The southernmost county of Ire- land, in the province of Munster, bounded N. by the county Limerick, E. by Waterford and Tipperary, S. by St. George's channel, and W. by Kerry; area, 2,873 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 516,046 (hi 1841, 773,398). The W. part is hilly, the K and E. remarkably fertile. The county is larger and has more arable land than any other in Ireland. It is watered by the Lee, Blackwater, Bandon, and smaller streams, none of which are here navigable to any great dis- tance. The coast is broken by fine bays and inlets, affording excellent anchorage, and there are several islands belonging to this county. Iron, copper, and coal mines, manganese, full- ers' earth, brick clay, and limestone exist. The iron mines are no longer worked, but those of copper at Allahies, in the extreme west, are the richest in Ireland. The climate is mild but moist. Agriculture, except near the seacoast, in the E. portions of the basins of the Blackwater and Lee, and in the neigh- borhood of the, great lines of communica- tion, is carried on with little skill. The sta- ples are potatoes, oats, wheat, and dairy pro- duce. Fisheries are extensively prosecuted. The chief trade is in provisions, and almost the only manufactures are whiskey and por- ter. The county is divided for judicial pur- poses into the East and West ridings. II. A city and river port, capital of the above county and a county in itself, at the head of the estu- ary of the Lee, 136 m. S. W. of Dublin; pop. in 1871, 78,382, or including the parliament- ary boundary, 97,887. It is the third city of Ireland in importance and population, Dub- lin and Belfast alone ranking before it. On the land side it is encompassed by hills of no great height, and by suburbs inhabited by an extremely poor population. It is lighted with gas and well supplied with water. The cen- tral part occupies half of an island in the river, connected with the mainland by bridges, the whole number of which within the city limits is nine. The principal streets are on the S. .side of the Lee, and both channels are lined