"Sit down in the shade here," said Cousin Tim, "and perhaps I can tell you something interesting." "Oh yes! about cork," said Rufus. "What is it? I have heard that it is a kind of bark,the bark of the cork-tree; but how do they get it? Where does it grow?"

"The cork-tree is a kind of oak. This tree grows in the countries of Southern Europe and Northern Africa, especially in Spain, Portugal, and 'Algiers. It is a beautiful, large, spreading tree, and it is cultivated in parks for its beauty, and in forests for its bark. A tree is stripped in this way. A cut is made completely round it, through the bark, just above the roots. A second cut is made in the same way just below the branches. Then straight cuts, up and down, divide the bark into broad strips. It is then pounded, to loosen it from the trunk,-somewhat as you pound the bark of a stick of willow, to ring it for a whistle. In cutting, an axe is used that has a handle with a curved and 2wedge-shaped end, which is afterwards used to start the bark and lift it from the trunk. The strips are then wrenched and pulled away, leaving the tree naked from its roots to its branches."

"Does it kill the tree?" Rufus inquired.

"Not when the work is carefully done. A tree completely deprived of its bark cannot live, of course; nor can one that has been simply girdled, if the bark is quite cut through. The sap of the tree, which goes to the leaves, just as your blood goes to the lungs, to receive oxygen from the air,

returns to the roots through the cells of the bark; so a complete separation of the bark kills the tree. But as the bark grows from the inside, the outer growths are constantly dying, while the new growth

is forming under it. If you cut into the bark of any common oak, you will find that the outward portion of it is comparatively dry and lifeless, while the inner layer is full of life and sap."

"I see!" cried Rufus. "In peeling the corktree, men take care not to cut clear through the

wood, but leave the living layer of bark, while they take off the dead outside."

Precisely. The tree "sheds that part naturally, in the course of time; but then the cork is so full of cracks that it is good for nothing. So the bark is taken off while it is in its best condition."

"And can they get more than one crop of bark from the same tree?"

"Certainly. The tree is first stripped when it is about fifteen years old, and every eighth or tenth year afterwards. As the cork-tree lives to be very old, it sometimes yields many crops,-fifteen to twenty, or even more. The first crop is the poorest; the quality of the cork improves until the tree is forty or fifty years old, and then continues at its best as long as the tree retains its vigour. In peeling large trees, the bark is cut in rings, about three and a half feet broad, before it is divided and taken from the trunk. This work is done in the summer months. The wood of the tree is the poorest of all the oaks,—as if nature in this case had put her best forces into the growth of the bark.

"The pieces of bark, or tables, as they are called, when first cut, are curved, just as they grow upon the round trunk. The next thing is to flatten them. They are piled in narrow vaults, or trenches, one upon another, with the hollow or concave side downward, and pressed beneath heavy weights. After they have been sufficiently pressed, they are dried in the curing house, by being constantly

turned before hot fires. One way of flattening is by the burning process. They are placed, the convex sides down, over fires which 'warp them into shape.

"They have then to be dressed and trimmed; and here dishonest dealers find a chance to cheat. Holes and cracks in the poor kinds of cork are filled with clay or chalk, and blacked over. Tables that have been through the burning process are most easily disguised in this way; and for this reason, though the burning does not injure the cork, they bring less in the market than the other sort.

"After it has been dressed, the cork is packed in bales, and stacked ready for shipping. You, who have seen cork only in stoppers or small pieces, would be astonished if you could look at, and perhaps climb, one of those mountainous heaps. You would fancy it contained material enough to stop all the bottles in the world. But this bark is used for other things than stoppers. Cork soles are made of it,-cork hats, life-preservers, wads for small cannon, floats for fish-nets, bungs for barrels and hogsheads, artificial legs, etc. In the countries where cork is grown, it is used for the roofs of cottages, for tubs and buckets, beehives, shoes, saddles, boats, pillows, and even for coffins.

What is cork? Where do cork-trees grow? Describe the process of stripping the trees. Why does this not kill the trees? How many crops may be obtained from a cork tree? What is first done with the large pieces of bark or tables? What is done after the tables are flattened? In this process how do dishonest dealers cheat? Mention some things made of cork?

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1 Algiers, a country in Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. wedge-shaped, shaped like a wedge, which is a piece of metal or other hard material, thick at one end, and sloping to a thin edge at the other. wrenched, forced off by violence; torn; pulled; twisted. oxygen, a gaseous element of the air, serving to support life. It forms about 22 per cent. (or 22 parts in a hundred) of the atmosphere. By composition with hydrogen it forms water. 5 sheds, throws off. 6 convex, rounded,

as the outside of a circle.

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warp, to turn or twist a thing out of one shape or direction into another; the sides were drawn to the fire and so brought level with the middle.

AT length Moscow, with its domes and towers and palaces, appeared in sight; and Napoleon, who had joined the advanced guard, gazed long and thoughtfully on that goal of his wishes. Murat went forward, and entered the gates with his splendid cavalry; but as he passed through the streets he was struck by the solitude that surrounded him. As night drew its curtain over the splendid capital, Napoleon entered the gates, and immediately appointed Mortier governor. In his directions he commanded him to abstain from all 3pillage. "For this," said he, "you shall be answerable with your life. Defend Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."

The bright moon rose rose over the mighty city, tipping with silver the domes of more than two