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Mon 16 Feb, 2004 12:04 am
How do harvesters get the cork off of the tree, and how do they do it without killing it?
Corks grow on trees? Who knew!
Cork comes from the cork oak tree.
They remove slabs of it from each tree about every 10 years.
First they peel off the outer bark, taking care not to ring-bark the tree, and then they slowly peel off sheets of the cork.
It's still done almost entirely by hand.
Sorry I just realised I didn't really answer the question.
They use a special type of axe to harvest it.
They avoid killing the tree by not taking too much at a time. You can take about a third of the area of the main trunk and lower branchs each time.
Only things to avoid are ring-barking and cutting too deeply. If you do you cut into the cambium layer and the tree "bleeds".
Interesting. Are you an arborist?
Ring-barking? Do you mean that they have to take it off in spirals or something?
Caprice, I'm not an arborist. Just know a little bit about most stuff.
Individual, ring-barking is when a strip off bark is removed around the whole diameter of a tree. Most of the time this will result in the death of the tree because the bark contains many of the... um, have forgotten the proper words but the "veins" and "arteries" of the tree.
Thank you very much, adrian. Now I can start my cork farm.
Ahh, very interesting picture.
Cork farm? *LOL* Sorry, it just sounds funny!
Whatever, my little darlings will sample some of the best wines of the world.
I wonder , what is the biggest cork supply company in the world? I know that Armstrong flooring uses a lot of cork that is not used for wine bottles. I guess they shred up the stuff that cannot be punched into little "corks".
I used to jam all my big tuna hooks on wine corks. Now I use styrofoam balls.
Doesn't most cork come from Spain? Used to, anyhow. The cork oaks can live hundreds of years... If I could lay my hands on my copy of James Michener's Iberia, I could find a wonderful description of the Spanish cork industry, at least as it was years ago when Michener traveled there...
It's a great book about the Iberian peninsula. If you're serious about learning about cork, go find it...
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