CHAP. CXII. TAXA'cEiE. TA'XUS. 2091 



the entire surface of the hedge will have to be cut in to the same depth every 

 5 or 6 years, otherwise the surface will become so thick and matted with twigs 

 as to exclude the air from the interior, and to kill a number of the branches, 

 so as here and there to form gaps. These gaps, by admitting the air, are the 

 means of keeping the hedge alive ; and it is curious in this way to see nature 

 relieving herself. 



The yew is admirably adapted for underwood ; because, like the holly and 

 the box, it thrives under the shade and drip of other trees. When planted 

 in masses by itself, the trees are drawn up with straight trunks, like pines and 

 firs; and, in good loamy soil, on a cool bottom, plantations of yews, treated 

 in this manner, must evidently be highly valuable^ There are some fine yew 

 groves, with tall clean trunks, at Combermere, in Cheshire; and here and 

 there in plantations, in most parts of the country, proofs may be obtained that 

 the yew, like the cedar of Lebanon, the red cedar, the arbor vitas, the juniper, 

 and various other trees, usually seen as immense bushes, might easily be 

 grown so as to throw all their strength into a clean straight trunk. 



Accidents, Diseases, <^c. The wood of the yew is tough, and therefore not 

 liable to be injured by storms ; and both the wood and the leaves being poi- 

 sonous, neither are attacked by insects ; or if they are, it is in a very slight 

 degree. The points of the shoots, in some situations and seasons, produce 

 little tufts of leaves, which may be considered as abortive shoots. Very few 

 lichens or fungi are ever found on the bark ; because that, as we have already 

 observed, scales off every year. SphaeVia Taxi Sow., t. 49-t. f. 6., is common 

 on the branchlets and leaves. 



Statislics. Recorded Trees. The list of these might be greatly extended ; but we shall confine 

 ourselves to a few, commencing with one mentioned by Evelyn as growing in the churchyard of 

 Crowhurst, in Surrey, with a trunk 10 ft. in diameter. The same author also mentions " a super- 

 annuated yew tree, growing in Braburne churchyard, in Kent, with a trunk 8 ft. 11 in. in circum. 

 ference, which had been blown down, and sawn up into goodly planks, and considerable pieces of 

 squared and clear timber. Such another monster," he says, " is to be seen in Sutton churchyard, 

 near VV^inchester." {Hunt. EncL, vol. ii. p. 195.) Box Hill, in Surrey, was, in the time of Evelyn, as 

 celebrated for its yews as for its box trees. A tree at Hedsor, in Bucks, near the church, is said to 

 have measured 9ft. in diameter; but this tree no longer exists. White mentions a yew tree in the 

 churchyard of Selborne, which, in 1789, was apparently of great age. The body was squat, short, and 

 thick, and girted 2.3 ft., supporting a large head. It was a male tree; and, in the spring, it shed clouds 

 of dust. Most of the yew trees in the churchyards of that neighbourhood, he says, are males ; which. 

 White thinks, must be matter of mere accident, since, when these trees were planted, it was not gene- 

 rally known that there were sexes in trees ; but, since he allows that the male trees are of more ro- 

 bust growth than the females, by selecting the strongest plants from seed-beds in which the plants 

 stood all at equal distances, the chance would be in favour of males. A tree at Little Shardon, near 

 Shareshill, in Staffordshire, had, in 1780, a singularly picturesque appearance, and formed one of a 

 vast number of very old and large yew trees. (See Gent. Mag., vol. ix. p. 1187., Supp., where a figure 

 of this picturesque tree is given.) In Scotland, according to Dr. Walker, there were a great many yew 

 trees in the latter end of the last century, with trunks varying from fi ft. to 52 ft. in circumference ; 

 the latter being the dimensions of the Fortingal Yew. On the hills between Dumbarton and Loch 

 Lomond, there were, in the beginning of the present century, many hundreds of large yew trees, all 

 of which have been cut down and sold. Hayes, in I79i, records several trees as at that time existing 

 in Ireland. At Dunganstone, he saw above 30 trees, most of them with clear trunks 2 ft. in dia- 

 meter, and upwards of 30 ft. high. A yew tree at Fornace, in Kildare, the same author observes, 

 has a trunk 4 ft. in diameter at 6 ft. from the ground ; and the diameter of the head is 6fift. 



Existing Trees. In the environs of London. There are many yew trees at Syon, and at the Chiswick 

 villa, between 30 ft. and 50 ft. in height ; at Mount Grove, Hampstead, a tree, 18 years planted, is 

 16 ft. high ; at York House, Twickenham, 100 years old, it is 50ft. high. — South of London. In De. 

 vonshire, in the churchyard of Stoke-Gabriel, situated on the river Dart, is a fine old yew, 40 ft. 

 high, the trunk of which is 13 ft. Sin. in circumference, and the diameter of the head is 70 ft. ; at 

 about 7 ft. from the ground, the trunk divides into two limbs, one of 5 ft. 6 in., and the other 4 ft 6 in., 

 in circumference, in Dorsetshire, at Melbury Park, 200 years old, it is 55 ft. high, the diameter of 

 the trnnk 3 ft., and that of the head 51 ft. In the Isle of Jersey, in Saunders's Nursery, 10 years 

 planted, it is 9 ft high. In Somersetshire, at Brockley Hall, it is 30 ft high, with a trunk 18 ft. in 

 circumference ; another, with a trunk 17 ft. in circumference : at Leigh Court, it is 45 ft high, the 

 circumference of the trunk 11 ft., and the diameter of the head 48ft. In Surrey, at Titsey Place, 

 near Godstone, it is 48 ft high, the circumference of the trunk, at 5 ft. from the ground, is 18 ft 6in. 

 and the diameter of the head between 60 ft. and 70 ft. In Hone's Every Day Book is an engraving of a 

 yew tree in Windlesham churchyard, near Bagshot, Surrey, said to have been planted in the time of 

 William the Conqueror, 21 ft. high, and 12 ft. in girt In Sussex, at Cowdray, it is 30 ft. high, with 

 a trunk of 4 ft. in diameter ; at Kidbrooke, it is 40 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft 6 in., and 

 of the head 54 ft In Wiltshire, at Longleat, 300 years old, it is 36 ft high, the diameter of the trunk 

 10 ft 4 in., and that of the head 42 ft. — North of London. In Berkshire, at Aldsworth, near Wal. 

 lingford, in the churchyard, is one 27 ft 3 in. in circumference at 5 ft from the ground : it has a fine 

 regular head, urn-shaped, though, compared with the trunk, it is a dwarf At Hampstead Marshall, 

 there are the remains of a very old yew, the trunk of whicli was 47 ft. in circumference a few years 

 ago; but which, in 1836, was only 37 ft in circumference. In Cheshire, at Tabley Hall, 70 years 

 old, it is 3Uft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1ft, and of the head 96 ft In Denbighshire, at 

 Llanbede Hall, 35 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft, and that of the head 41ft In Durham, 

 at Southend, 2S years planted, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft, and that of the head 



