ar character and is of remarkable
thickness. When the tree is some five years old, its whole energy is
directed toward the increase of the suber. A mass of cells is formed
with great rapidity, and layer upon layer is added, until that part of
the trunk grows so unwieldy that it would crack and split of its own
accord. But such a thing is rarely allowed to happen: the suber is of
too much value to man. After it is taken from the tree and has undergone
due preparation, it appears in our shops and houses under the name
of _cork_"

"I should like to see how they get it," said Malcolm.

"The trunk is regularly marked around in deep cuts, which begin close
to the branches and go down almost to the roots. A ladder is used to
mount to the upper part of the trunk, and the cuts, or incisions, are
made with a long knife or with an axe. Then they strip off the sheets of
cork between the circles. This operation is a very delicate one, and
requires much care and skill lest the inner part should be injured. If
the operation is carried out successfully, the cork-like substance will
grow again and become as abundant as ever.

"The next thing to be done to the pieces of bark is partially to burn,
or char, them, and also to make them quite flat, as they come from the
trunk in a rounded shape. The burning makes the pores close up, so that
the liquid in a vessel for which it is used as a stopper cannot come
through; and this is done over a brisk fire, in what is called a
_burning-yard_. Another process, called _rounding_, removes every trace
of the fire, unless the cork has been too much burned, and then, having
already been flattened by the pressure of heavy stones, it is ready for
the cork-maker, who cuts the material first into strips and then into
squares according to the size of corks wanted.

"Cork is very light and elastic, and can be used successfully in
contrivances for the rescue of men from the perils of the deep. The cork
jacket and the lifeboat have been the means of saving many lives, for
cork will float on the surface of the water and bear up the person
wearing the jacket and the shipwrecked people in the lifeboat. 'The
shallowness of the boat and the bulk of cork within allow but little
room for water; so that even when filled it is in no danger of
overturning or sinking, like other crafts. Also, the lifeboat can move
across the waves with perfect safety, and can make its way from one
object to another in a broken sea as