2090 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



leaves, eaten alone, are fatal to animals, particularly to horses, upon which he 

 made his experiments ; but that, when mixed with twice or thrice as much 

 oats, they may be used without any danger. This neutralisation of the poi- 

 sonous qualities of the yew by another vegetable may explain, to a certain 

 extent, the diversity of opinion upon their effects; it being possible that some 

 animals, which have eaten of the yew without inconvenience, had shortly before 

 eaten heartily of some other vegetable. At all events, as M. Dutour observes, 

 it is possible that the nature of the soil, the climate, and the age of the 

 tree, may contribute to diminish its bad effects ; and it is certain, that with 

 this poison, as with certain others (opium for example), custom renders it 

 innoxious. It is said that, in the mountains of Hanover and Hesse, the 

 peasants feed their cattle in part with the branches of the yew, during the 

 winter. They know its poisonous qualities ; and, although they reckon it good 

 food, they are aware that great precaution is necessary in using it, without 

 which they run the risk of losing their cattle : consequently, they give them 

 at first a very little, mixed with other forage ; afterwards they gradually 

 augment the quantity, until at last they can almost give them the leaves of 

 alone, without any danger. 



Soil, Propagation, Sfc. The yew will grow on any soil that is somewhat 

 moist ; but it thrives best in loams and clays, on rock, and in a shady situa- 

 tion. It is propagated for the most part by seeds; but the varieties, and also 

 the species, when the object is to form a hedge of plants of the same dimen- 

 sions and colour of leaf, as already mentioned (p. 2088.), should be propa- 

 gated by cuttings or layers from one plant only. The berries are ripe in 

 October, and should be then gathered, carried to the rot-heap, and treated in 

 the same manner as haws. (See p. 840.) If, however, they are sown imme- 

 diately, enveloped in their pulp, a few of them may come up the following 

 year, and the remainder the second year; but, if the pulp is allowed to dry 

 round the nut, and they are kept in that state till spring, none of them will 

 come up till the third year. Cuttings may be formed of either one or two years' 

 growth, and planted in a shady border, either in the beginning of April or the 

 end of August. The cuttings will be most certain of success if slipped off 

 with a heel, and if the soil consists chiefly of sand. The leaves should be 

 carefully stripped off the lower part of the cutting, which may be from 7 in. 

 to 10 in. in length, and buried to the depth of o in. in the soil. Cuttings 

 treated in this manner require two years before they are sufficiently rooted 

 to be removed. In all probability, however, if the points of the shoots were 

 taken and planted in sand under a hand-glass, about midsummer, or before, 

 they would produce roots the same season, and might be transplanted the 

 following spring. Whether plants are raised from seeds or cuttings, they 

 ought to undergo the usual routine of culture in the nursery, till they are 

 3 ft. or 4 ft. high ; because, as they are of slow growth, time is gained by this 

 practice ; and the yew transplants so readily at any age, that there is no more 

 danger of plants failing when transplanted at the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft., than 

 there is when they are only 6 in. or 8 in. high. In planting the yew for hedges, 

 the advantage of having large-sized plants is obvious; for which reason Boutcher 

 recommends them to be kept in the nursery till they are 7 or 8 years of age, 

 at which time they will be 7 ft. or 8 ft. hign. The season for transplanting 

 the yew, whether of a large or small size, is, as in the case of all other ever- 

 greens, when the sap is in a comparatively dormant state, between autumn and 

 spring, and when the weather is open, mild, and, if possible, showery. If trans- 

 planted in frosty weather, or while a dry wind prevails, they ought to be 

 covered with mats or straw, or wicker hurdles, kept 6 in. or Sin. from the 

 plant by stakes and poles. The proper season for clipping yew hedges is 

 towards the end of June, when the shoots of the year have been completed; 

 and, to retain a hedge in the greatest beauty or verdure for the greatest length 

 of time, it ought to be gone over in the latter end of July, or the beginning of 

 August ; and the points of all those shoots which had become stubby, from 

 repeated clippings, cut back Sin. or 4 in. If this be not attended to annually, 



