The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years, 2nd ed. Appert Nicolas

      § IV.

       Of Corks.

       Table of Contents

      Economy in corks is generally very unwise, as in order to save a very trifle in the price of cork, a risk is incurred of losing the valuable commodity it is intended to preserve. As corking is made use of in order to preserve and meliorate certain articles, by depriving them of all contact with the air, too much attention cannot be given to the good quality of the cork, which should be of eighteen or twenty lines in length and of the finest quality. Experience has so fully satisfied me on this point, that I never make use of any but superfine corks: these are, in the end, the cheapest. I further take the precaution of compressing, and, as it were, biting the cork, three-fourths of its length, by means of the instrument already described (fig. 3), beginning at the small end. The cork is rendered more supple; the pores of the cork are brought closer; it is somewhat lengthened, and its thickness is so much diminished at the extremity which is put into the mouth of the bottle, that a large cork may be made to enter a very moderate opening. The action of the heat within the vessel is such, that the cork swells within, and the corking is thus rendered perfect.