But the spread of the corkwood’s fame has aroused others to action, and it appears as though the monopoly will suffer because of that fame. The demand grows daily, and the rapid growth of the American trade bids fair to being a very close rival to the long-established European manufactures at least.
The waste is rapidly assuming great importance and to this the newer entrant in the business is turning all his energy. The doctrine of conservation and utilization has been heeded by the corkwood industry and the waste is no longer such, rather standing as a cork product second only to the stopper, when the fact is considered that the grower or farmer receives about $58 per ton for raw corkwood and the waste sells from $22 to $32 per ton; its value is apparent.
A notable feature of the shipments from Spain is the waste and shavings, which doubled from 1906 to 1910, viz.:
| 1906—14,624 tons | 1909—20,198 tons |
| 1907—17,557 “ | 1910—29,257 “ |
| 1908—12,201 “ |
The uses to which corkwood may be put are unlimited, and as has been seen the uses already known are sufficient, in themselves, to make it a very important commodity. And yet when we speak of uses it is only those that have developed by reason of the corkwood’s own peculiarity that makes it the subject of discussion, and not the great number that it has been adapted to, for perhaps its utility will have no end, and in my estimation its particular qualities are but little appreciated. Of course its application as a stopper is ideal for that purpose, but it appears most certain that this wonderful growth is designed to be of greater service to man than the mere function of filling the neck of a bottle. Chemically, I think it has possibilities; the ancients found it useful in Materia Medica, and there may still be a use in this line. At any rate, it is the most wonderful bark of its kind, its service has been a long one, and its benefits, even as a stopper, have been many. A wonderful material truly, and of interest, so full that it seems I have failed to do it justice in these few words presented in my endeavor to describe the Quercus Suber of Linnæus.
[APPENDIX]
For those who may be interested in a few statistics of the trade is appended the following figures relating to the Spanish and American industry: