Cork The Vital Material of War

The cork oak is evergreen and has perennial foliage and can serve as a decorative tree as well as a commercial one. Charles E. McManus, president of Crown Cork and Seal Company, the man behind the new industry, appears beside one of the mature cork trees on the Arizona Biltmore Hotel grounds close to Phoenix.

CORK.. THE VITAL Some Day Arizona Will Help

Cork is a vital and in many instances an irreplaceable substance. It is the outer bark of the cork tree which grows profusely along the shores of the Western Mediterranean. Originally, Spain was the world's largest producer of cork, but in recent years, Portugal has gained that distinction. Cork is also produced in Southern France, Italy and northern Africa. Since the beginning of the present war, importations have been cut down from Spain and the Mediterranean due to blockades.

One of the cork trees growing on the Arizona State Teachers College grounds at Tempe. These are nice shade trees. Many cork trees have been found here.

Cork is on the list of the fifteen most critical war materials, so classified by the Army and Navy munitions, for this substance is not only important in closure-making, but is essential in scores of other uses, such as in the manufacture of floating jackets, mechanical floats of various kinds, sun helmets and engine gaskets.

With the discovery and location of numerous mature cork oak trees in the United States, and especially in Arizona and California, and the ambitious program now under way to increase the stand, the possibilities of creating a domestic supply of this indispensable product seems reasonably assured.

Never again, it is the hope and plan of energetic men associated with the cork industry, will war cause the supply of this product to be made inaccessible to the United States. This country until recently was importing over sixty per cent of the available cork of the world and produces domestically virtually none.

While world trade is a desirable economic function that the nations of the world might enjoy greater association and at the same time participate in the advantage of the international exchange of goods at the same time, the amazing reality of two world wars within one generation has forced the United States to plan a policy of self sufficiency whenever and however possible. Thanks to Hitler, Tojo, Benito and their Axis henchmen for these drastic measures which may indeed prove damaging in years to come, to the nations they now represent.

During the winter season of 1940, at the suggestion of Buell E. Tade, Arizona represen-tative for the Crown Cork and Seal Company of Baltimore, Maryland, Charles E. McManus, the company's president, spent a few weeks at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel near Phoenix, basking in the warm winter sun of our Southwest. With war conditions curtailing the importation of raw cork for his plant and with prices for the dwindling shipments soaring skyward, the necessity of creating or discovering some kind of a substitute for cork was ever on his mind. Just as a piece of metal is attracted to a magnet, so it seems a man is, through some unexplainable medium, attracted towards things akin to his own particular sphere. To his amazement, on the first day of his Phoenix stay he found four cork oak trees growing on the hotel grounds. This inspired him to search further. Subsequent investigation brought about the discovery of fourteen more trees, one very large one on the Craig ranch in the Pinal mountains above Superior; six trees were found in Tucson two on the University of Arizona campus and the other four on the Southern Pacific Hospital grounds. Three others were discovered flourishing on the campus of the Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe.

tative for the Crown Cork and Seal Company of Baltimore, Maryland, Charles E. McManus, the company's president, spent a few weeks at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel near Phoenix, basking in the warm winter sun of our Southwest. With war conditions curtailing the importation of raw cork for his plant and with prices for the dwindling shipments soaring skyward, the necessity of creating or discovering some kind of a substitute for cork was ever on his mind. Just as a piece of metal is attracted to a magnet, so it seems a man is, through some unexplainable medium, attracted towards things akin to his own particular sphere. To his amazement, on the first day of his Phoenix stay he found four cork oak trees growing on the hotel grounds. This inspired him to search further. Subsequent investigation brought about the discovery of fourteen more trees, one very large one on the Craig ranch in the Pinal mountains above Superior; six trees were found in Tucson two on the University of Arizona campus and the other four on the Southern Pacific Hospital grounds. Three others were discovered flourishing on the campus of the Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe.

A stray comment passed at a luncheon meeting resulted in the location of two more trees on the ground of the Southern Pacific railway station at Douglas, while four others were found at Litchfield Park, Arizona home of the Goodyear enterprises. McManus, during his current stay at the Arizona Biltmore, has just announced the discovery of fifteen more cork trees on the hotel grounds. All of these, in addition to a few scattered in other locations. make a total of more than thirty-four mature trees within the state from which cork may be harvested. As a matter of fact more than six hundred pounds of cork were removed last August from Arizona cork oaks, specially seWorkmen prying off the cork bark. First, cuts are made around the trunk near the ground and just below the first branches. On tall trunks, a cut is made part way up. Limbs can be stripped as well.

MATERIAL OF WAR Supply the Nation

The oldest and largest cork oak is growing on the Craig ranch between Miami and Superior The tree was planted in 1879.

Selected for this stripping test. Confirming the opinion of cork authorities, the quality of the product obtained has been shown to be excellent.

Aside from the mature trees in Arizona, there are many fine specimens in the state Tree with fork. As tree grows older, cork bark is taken from some of the tree above the trunk. Eventually the branches bear enough cork to make its stripping profitable.

Of California, where, during the past three years, a total of ten tons of cork has been taken from the trees. Healthy old cork oaks were also found in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.

The cork oak thrives best and grows fastest in localities with an average rainfall of twenty-three inches annually, and at an altitude of 3,750 to 4,200 feet, although many of the trees thrive in areas of adverse climatic conditions, even under conditions of excessive heat and drought. Surprisingly, the best grade of cork is produced by trees that grow in poorer soil. Trees thrive on fertile land and yield an abundance of cork, but the quality of the cork grown on fertile soil is inferior to that growing in poorer soil.

The peculiarities of Arizona's terrain-rocky, somewhat sandy soil and sparse vegetationlend themselves to cork production, and the quality of Arizona's cork is judged as good or even superior to the finest cork imported from foreign lands.

The cork tree is evergreen and has perennial foliage and can serve as a decorative tree as well as a commercial one. They are not particularly large trees, measuring usually from three to six feet around the trunk and attaining a height of from thirty-five to sixty feet. The general appearance of the cork tree resembles the olive tree while the leaves are similar to the holly leaf minus the sharp points. In May and June the yellow blossoms come out, and acorns ripen in the fall.

The acorns must be gathered promptly as they sprout soon after dropping from the tree. They are successfully seeded directly into the ground although nursery propagation of seedlings, and then setting them out into the ground has proven successful also. The seedlings need some care and watering through the first year after which they grow pretty much and pretty well on their own. The groves, if the acorns are planted in furrows, are eventually thinned to approximately ninety trees per acre.

The cork oak reaches maturity in from fifteen to twenty years, depending on the type of soil and climatic conditions. Then the tree is ready for the first stripping. This is carried on during the summer months when the sap is flowing freely. However, as no sap flows through the cork bark, it can be removed without danger to the tree, that is, if the inner bark is not injured. Cuts are made around the trunk near the ground and just below the first branches. When the tree grows older, increasing in size, cork is also stripped from some of the branches. Longitudinal incisions are made in the bark and the cork is pried from around the trunk with stripping knives or pry-bars.

The first stripping, or virgin bark, is not as high quality as the subsequent growths. The cork bark grows back and is removed every six to ten years, and the quality of the cork improves with each growth. A cork tree produces for at least a century, and in many cases much longer. Most cork grove operators plan the harvesting of one-tenth of their trees a year, which provides a rotating system-the tree harvested the first year would be ready for a second stripping in about ten years, or after the whole grove had been given its initial harvest. This also provides annual employment for workers in the industry, and it does require skillful workers to properly strip cork from the trees.

The stripped bark is hauled to a central station and left to season for a few weeks. The cork wood is then boiled in large vats for thirty minutes. This process softens the cork and also removes all foreign matter. The cork is then allowed to dry for two or more weeks. The pieces are then cut and trimmed, graded and baled, and are then ready for the cork factory.

A goodly part of the products manufactured from cork are from natural and not composition cork. The choice bark is selected and steamed to soften the cork and render it more suitable for cutting. Steaming also makes the cork-wood tough and flexible. Following steaming the cork is stored in a warm moist room where it is kept for two or more weeks, properly conditioning it for slicing. After this process it is cut into pieces of suitable width by a slicing machine. After this operation the layers of cork are fed against a rapidly revolving punch which produces the desired shapes and sizes of the finished product.

In the process of manufacturing articles from natural cork, the percentage of scrap is necessarily great. Some of the scrap was ground and sold for packing purposes. But these small miscellaneous uses did not appreciably reduce the mounting stock of scrap. Experiments were made as early as 1900 to bond ground cork with suitable adhesives and make a compounded cork or composition cork. The task of finding a suitable binder, especially for closures tasteless and odorless as well as otherwise satisfactory, appeared to be an almost hopeless task. Skill and preseverance, as in all problems, finally won and Charles E. McManus invented for the closure industry the ideal formula.

In composition cork manufacture the flat pieces of bark are ground to pieces about the size of a walnut and then stored in huge silos until needed. Then as it is taken from the silo it is ground to the desired size. This is accomplished by consecutive grinding, airfloating and screening operations. In this way all foreign matter is removed and the final bulk is rendered soft and uniform. It is then routed to storage bins.

From the storage bins the uniform granulated cork is air-conveyed to the mixing rooms where the cork particles are coated with the free flowing adhesive binder which can readily be converted into a tough, elastic material by the application of heat. For bottle cap liners the binder-coated cork is packed into tubes for rod production, or pressed into large moulds for block manufacture. For bottle cap liner stock the tubes are heated slowly at low temperature. After baking, the tubes are cooled and the rods of cork ejected. The rods of cork are then stacked in racks where they are allowed to season. When ready for use the rods are fed into a slicing machine which rapidly cuts discs of the correct thickness. The composition cork liners are placed in crown caps by machine.

Composition cork blocks are manufactured in several convenient sizes. After the bindercoated cork particles are fed into moulds, pressed and heat-processed, the blocks are stacked for curing. When ready for use they are sliced into sheets of the desired thickness by cutting machines. Closure liners, gaskets, shoe insoles, table mats and many other articles are cut from composition cork sheets.

Composition cork might well be called the complement of natural cork. While the manufactured product has in many instances re-placed natural cork in many useful placed the natural article, at the same time composition cork has supplemented the use of natural cork and has greatly widened the field which cork serves.

The United States normally uses 180,000 tons of cork a year. Under the plan proposed, it is hoped that at some future date, this amount will be successfully produced in the United States instead of having to depend almost entirely upon importation. California has ambitious plans which are well under way. Upon maturity of trees now planted and being planted in that state, 15,000 tons of cork should eventually be produced there annually. As in Arizona, the interest and activity of cork tree development was instigated and is being encouraged and subsidized by Mr. McManus.

In Arizona it is planned to set out 100,000 trees annually for ten years. If half of the seedlings and planted acorns grow, there would be one half million trees growing in the state within ten years. A cooperative deal between the Forest Service, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, near Superior, and the cork interests has just been concluded for the propagation and planting of seedlings which will be planted in various selected areas including the national forests. A great many seedlings and acorns have already been planted in the Tonto National Forest.

F. Lee Kirby, Forest Supervisor of the Tonto National Forest, in discussing cork activities in Arizona, foresees possibilities of its becoming an important industry in the state some day and well worth a try. He stated that cork trees would be an additional resource without taking away any other resources.

A forest ranger has been assigned since December, 1942, and with the aid of one of two employees has been at work planting seedlings and acorns which were furnished by the Crown Cork and Seal people. These plantings were made at a number of widely separated points in the mountain areas of the state. The plantings were timed to coincide with the winter and spring rains. The Forest Service picked the most favorable locations in order to give the plantings every chance to survive. As the cork oak seedlings are especially relished by livestock, it was necessary to make the plantings in fenced areas. It is anticipated that once the trees are established in widely separated places, they will spread from there themselves.

The director of the Southwest Forest Experimental Station in the Sierra Ancha mountains has done some planting on a purely research basis, keeping a very intensive record that will probably give some reliable data as to the best seed sources and the best time of year to plant. Some of these plantings are being aided along while others are being left to struggle for themselves with the elements.

The Forest Service is not only planting cork oaks on government land but also on ranchers' private land, wherever interest in the new project is indicated and a willingness to care for the trees through the initial few years is shown.

It is planned also, according to Mr. Kirby, to irrigate some of the cork trees in the early stages where practical, in an effort to deterExamine the possibilities along that line.

In fifteen to twenty years the first 50,000 trees would be ready for harvesting in Arizona, and the same number would be ready each succeeding year for ten years. After the first crop, each succeeding crop would be ready for harvesting every seven to ten years thereafter for at least a century. This is long range planning, but once the harvesting starts, a perpetual rotation will prevail, and from the acorns dropped from these trees, many thousands, yes millions more trees could be grown. On the 335,000 acres in the Salt River Valley alone, of which Phoenix is the hub, if but three trees were planted on each acre, an enormous paying crop from one million trees would result. And there are other vast areas upon which cork oaks could be planted and successfully grown in Arizona.

With a very conservative average of 50 pounds of cork from each tree per harvest and at the prevailing price of $100 per ton, it can readily be realized that great possibilities are in store for the industry in Arizona.

The idea of encouraging the growing of cork oaks in Arizona and California, as well as in certain other parts of the United States, carries with it no ambitious plan of profit, according to the people behind this plan. The acquiring of the acorns, paying for the propagation in nurseries and the distribution of seedlings to interested individuals, is personally financed by Mr. McManus with the great ambition of aiding in the development of a domestic cork supply that will sufficiently take care of the demand in future years. The seedlings are free to anyone wishing to set them out and care for them through the crucial stage, either as decorative trees, or a more ambitious effort. All that is requested is that the individual agree to grow the trees, and, when they are ready for stripping, some commercial concern be allowed to remove the cork at the going price.

During the fall, when the acorns drop from the cork trees now mature in Arizona, the public is invited and urged to collect some of these potential cork oaks and plant them. This subsidized deal, as carried on at present, will be continued until enough public enthusiasm has been aroused to assure success of the venture. With the public supporting this patriotic plan, it surely will succeed. Arizona's potential resources are a thousand fold-a great Inland Empire destined for greater heights.