Causes of variation in Growth Pollards 67 



are pollards or dottards, and not trees at their full 

 height.' If an ordinary tree lose its leading shoot, 

 it is generally reproduced quickly, and frequent 

 cutting is thus necessary to form a pollard, but it 

 is not so with the yew. If the leading shoot be 

 injured, it is seldom that a secondary lead is formed, 

 but rather a head of branches of equal size. This 

 is due to the immense number of leaf-buds which 

 exist on every shoot. As many as sixteen to 

 twenty of these may be counted in the length of 

 an inch. It will appear presently what an influence 

 this fact has on the growth of the trunk. 



It is remarkable that we scarcely ever see a 

 yew-tree of good size growing with a single lead. 

 I only know of two or three which have this 

 character, one at Dunkeld, another at Rokeby, and 

 a third in the churchyard at Portbury, near Bristol. 

 In most other instances it would seem to have 

 been destroyed or injured, and if the trees are 

 carefully examined the remains of the original 

 trunk will be readily discerned. The condition 

 resulting from this kind of injury is practically the 

 same as that from pollarding. That is to say, 

 there ensues a distinct swelling of the trunk, along 

 which new shoots are thrown out in large quantity, 

 just as occurs in trees which are really pollarded, 

 and if the tree is growing in the open, and has 

 branches down the trunk, these enlarge at the 

 expense of the top, and thus produce an unequal 



