THE COMMON YEW 



has little value. It is said to have been introduced 

 into England in 1 800 but has never obtained a place 

 in English gardens. The Western Yew is not culti- 

 vated in eastern North America and I do not know 

 that it is on the Pacific Slope. It was sent to England 

 by William Lobb in 1854, but is still a very rare plant 

 in gardens. The Chinese Yew was introduced by 

 myself to the Arnold Arboretum in 1908, and has 

 been distributed, but in New England it is tender and 

 of no value for gardens. In California it will prob- 

 ably thrive and be a useful ornamental tree. The 

 same remark holds good for favoured areas in the 

 British Isles. At its best it is a fine tree 50 feet 

 tall and 1 5 feet in girth of trunk, with large spread- 

 ing branches. 



In Great Britain and Ireland only the Common 

 Yew and its numerous varieties are grown but in 

 this country both these and the Japanese Yew are 

 available, and for gardens north of Washington, D. C, 

 the latter is the Yew par excellence. At Haddonfield, 

 New Jersey, grow two famous trees of the Common 

 Yew which were planted in 171 3 by Elizabeth Had- 

 don Estaugh, a Quakeress, whose history is partly 

 given in Longfellow's poem "Elizabeth." The cir- 

 cumference of each tree-trunk is about i2| feet. 

 These have several times suffered from winter storms. 

 It is true that around New York, Philadelphia, and 



109 



