BRITISH FOREST TREES 337 



that of any other forest tree. There are several yews through- 

 out central Europe that are 2,000 to 3,000 years old, though 

 not over thirty to fifty feet in height ; and Burckhardt men- 

 tions 1 one growing on diluvial sand at Wiethmarschen in 

 Bentheim, Prussia, which as early as 1152 was already 

 celebrated on account of its great age, although even now 

 (1893) it is no more than three feet in diameter at breast- 

 height. In Britain, the cultivation of the yew is confined 

 chiefly to cemeteries, for which its dark foliage and altogether 

 somewhat sombre and impressive appearance eminently 

 qualify it. Even among the Greeks and the Romans it was 

 known as the arbor mortis bringing death to those who slept 

 under its shade ; and as a matter of fact, though goats and 

 cattle can eat the foliage without any great apparent incon- 

 venience, the after effects in the case of horses are usually 

 quickly fatal. The beautiful red berries are generally con- 

 sidered poisonous, but this is denied by Rossmassler. From 

 insect enemies it has little to suffer, although the grub of a 

 Cecidomyia is found in the bud, WM&Anobium tesselatum bores 

 into the dry wood, both as grub and beetle. It is endowed 

 with extraordinary reproductive power, which is retained far 

 beyond the limits of similar capacity in other trees a capacity 

 which was formerly taken advantage of in old-fashioned 

 gardening, in the formation of hedges and quaintly trimmed 

 bushes. Since the days of bows and arrows, the yew has 

 lost its footing in the woodlands, and is now solely a tree for 

 ornamental purposes in parks and arboreta, though still 

 deserving of its place here and there at any interesting point 

 on the fringe of the forest, or where any knoll offers a wide 

 look over the surrounding country. It can be propagated 

 by slips ami layers, but production from seed is on the whole 

 more satisfactory, although by no means always easy. The 

 . usually III fof two, and sometimes for four years 



1 .V,/,-;/ tf. . 470. 



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