Taxus 119 



we picked up a dead pheasant anywhere near these yew trees till the coverts had 

 been shot." 



We have no record of any case of deer being poisoned by yew, though no 

 doubt in a heavy snow they might be tempted to eat it, and Mr. Squarey states 

 that in the " Great and Little Yews " of which I write later, hares and rabbits, 

 which are very numerous, have never been found dead from poisoning. 



I .nay add that I have frequently seen yews of a few inches in girth barked 

 and killed by rabbits where they are very numerous and hungry, but it is one of 

 the last trees to be attacked. 



Cultivation 



The yew is best raised from seed, except in the case of varieties which are 

 propagated by cuttings, which are taken off in April or August and put into 

 sandy soil in a shady border, or, better, under a handlight, as they will then root 

 more quickly. 



Seed, if sown when ripe, will sometimes come up in the following spring, 

 but usually lies over the first year, and is therefore treated like haws. The 

 seedlings grow very slowly at first, and require several years of nursery cultivation 

 before they are large enough to plant out. 



They are easy to transplant in early autumn or in spring, and may be safely 

 moved at almost any time of the year even when of large size, if care is taken 

 to prepare the roots and keep them watered until new ones are formed. 



The yew in Buckland Churchyard, about a mile from Dover, may be mentioned 

 as an instance of the great age at which this tree may be transplanted with safety, if 

 proper care and appliances are used. This tree was a very old and large one, 

 divided into two stems, one of which, almost horizontal, was 10 feet 10 inches, 

 and the entire trunk no less than 22 feet in girth. It was removed by the late 

 Mr. W. Barron on March i, 1880, to a position 60 yards off, where Mr. John 

 Barron of Elvaston Nurseries tells me it is now in a vigorous state of health. An 

 account of this tree is given by Lowe ; and the manner in which it was transplanted, 

 with pictures of its appearance before and after removal, is described fully in Gard. 

 Chron. 1880, p. 556-7. 



By sowing seeds there is some chance of obtaining variegated forms, which 

 are among the most ornamental shrubs we have. 



The Hon. Vicary Gibbs has found that at Aldenham the use of nitrate of 

 soda increases in a marked degree the growth of young yew trees. Some yews 

 planted by him in 1897 and treated with liberal quantities of this manure had attained 

 in 1905 an average height of 12 feet, with a girth of stem of 16 inches at a foot 

 above the base. 



Soil and Situation 



Though the yew grows naturally most commonly on limestone formations in 

 England, it will grow on almost any soil except perhaps pure peat and wet clay, 



