444 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 



parts of Asia, and most of the countries of Europe, generally at higli 

 elevations, frequently extending to 4000 feet above the sea-level, but 

 thriving best in sheltered valleys, where they attain the dimensions 

 of large timber-trees. 



The wood, which from its strength and elasticity was extensively 

 employed by our ancestors before the invention of gunpowder in mak- 

 ing bows, is now highly valued for artistic cabinet-work, turning, and 

 carving. It is of a beautiful brownish-red colour, sometimes nearly 

 white, frequently veined, very hard, close-grained, and susceptible of 

 receiving a high polish. 



All the sorts are of slow growth, particularly after the first few 

 years, or after they attain heights of from 15 to 20 feet — their ten- 

 dency then being to increase in breadth rather than in height. 



Few shrubs are less fastidious in regard to soils and situations ; 

 and handsome specimens are to be found in every district of the 

 country, growing and thriving in almost every variety of soil. There 

 is no doubt, however, that they prefer a deep rich loam, with a sub- 

 soil cool and moist, and a situation moderately sheltered and shady 

 rather than exposed to the full rays of the sun. They are, indeed, 

 among the few evergreens that succeed well in the shade of high trees, 

 not only growing well in such circumstances, but developing the pecu- 

 liar dark glossy green of their foliage to the greatest perfection. 



T. baccata (the English Yew). — The European form of the genus is 

 indigenous to Britain, and also found abundantly on most of the great 

 mountain-ranges of the Continent, including the Alps, the Apennines, 

 the Pyrenees, and the Caucasus, at elevations of from 1000 to 4000 

 feet. 



This shrub or small tree, even when at full maturity, rarely exceeds 

 30 or 40 feet in height, with a trunk remarkably thick in proportion 

 to its length, in some instances exceeding 50 feet in circumference at 

 the base, the long spreading branches so abundant, and so densely 

 clothed with branchlets and foliage in isolated specimens, that the 

 stem is completely covered from the ground upwards. 



Though cultivated in British gardens and pleasure-grounds, in 

 cliurchyards and cemeteries, from time immemorial, this grand ever- 

 green is still as popular as ever — indispensable among ornamental 

 plants, occupying a place peculiarly its own, and forming the most 

 effective contrast with most other shrubs, whether in groups or as 

 single specimens ; while the deep sombre green of its foliage and its 

 stiff formal aspect suggest to every mind its singular appropriateness 

 as an adornment to the resting-place of the dead. A popular writer, 

 himself now reposing under " the yew-tree's shade," aptly says, " For 

 the decoration of places of burial it is well adapted, from the deep and 



