406 THE YEW TREE. 
such plants furnish an immediate and ornamental effect. 
When dressed for a few years the yew forms a hedge of close 
growth, so compact that small birds cannot readily pass 
through it. 
As an ornamental tree for the lawn or pleasure ground, in a 
cold climate, the yew possesses some good qualities. In early 
life it forms a conical bush, and never receives injury from 
the influence of wind, nor the intensity of frost in winter. 
The richness of its deep green foliage forms a good contrast 
with deciduous trees, particularly during the snows of winter. 
Its berries are the choice food of singing birds, and the density 
of its foliage forms their best shelter. 
The practice of planting the yew in churchyards is of very 
great antiquity, and commenced at a time when the choice of 
trees was comparatively limited. It bears a resemblance to 
the cypress, the chief cemetery tree of many countries, and 
its being indigenous, quite hardy, yielding a persistent, dark, 
and sombre foliage, and being possessed of greater longevity 
than perhaps any other tree, render it a fit substitute for 
the cypress, the emblem of immortality. With roots small 
and fibrous, calculated to fix the soil, and easily cut through 
in excavating graves, the yew, even now, with the increased 
» choice of plants in the present age, appears more in harmony 
with the scenes with which it is associated than any other tree. 
In growing the yew for timber it should be closely planted, 
and interspersed with faster-growing trees. By this means 
its upward growth is more rapid than when allowed to branch 
in its ordinary form, and through confinement in a suitable 
soil its timber is clean and free of knots. Every agriculturist 
should be aware of the poisonous nature of the tree. No 
doubt numerous instances occur of horses and cattle eating the 
spray of the yew with impunity. This may arise from habit, 
after small beginnings, or from its being associated with their 
food, or from some other cause ; but cases are too numerous 
where the fresh twigs, or half-dried twigs, have proved fatal, 
and it is more frequently so when the animal receives them 
to a considerable extent into an empty stomach. 
