MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES 53 



necessary to use the pruning knife or saw rather 

 severely, both of which can be used with perfect safety 

 when they are in the hands of a person who thoroughly 

 understands the yew; provided, of course, he does not 

 go to extremes, the yew is a tree that will stand a 

 fair amount of rough treatment, and one that can be 

 twisted and cut into almost any shape desired. 



I have seen old specimen trees that had grown out 

 of shape, or were, perhaps, shutting out the view in 

 some part of the garden, taken down and re-trained, 

 or cut down with the pruning saw, or knife, as the 

 case might be ; and yet in a very few years they had 

 quite recovered and grown into nice, well shaped trees, 

 full of vigour and well furnished with young growth. 

 Rather will the tree, if it is carefully managed, be im- 

 proved by the severe pruning it has been subjected to. 



Of course, after an operation like the one I am de- 

 scribing, great care will have to be taken that every 

 use is made of the young growth, as the main object 

 to be kept in view is to get the tree well furnished 

 again in as little time as possible. There will be very 

 little, if any need for using the shears the first year 

 after the cutting back has been done ; but if the young 

 growth is at all rank, it should be carefully thinned 

 with an ordinary pruning knife, always taking care 

 that only the weaker shoots are removed, leaving the 

 stronger ones to grow for use another year, when 

 they can be tied in and cover up, as far as possible, 

 the old and bare wood. When tying young shoots, 

 tarred string will be found most suitable. It answers 

 the purpose very well and it is easier to tie than wire, 

 although it has a tendency to decay quickly through 

 being always exposed to the weather. In the case of 

 young shoots the pressure is not great and string will 

 generally last as long as the tie is required, as the 

 shoots soon become matted and interwoven together ; 



