CHAPTER XLII. 
THE YEW. 
The English Yew.—Its Foreign Origin.—Its Famed Longevity.— 
Its Symbolic Uses.—The Immensity of its Foliage.— Properties 
and Uses of its Wood.—Its Latitude of Thrift.—American Yew, or 
Ground Hemiock.—Its Stunted Growth, and Semi-evergreen Prop- 
erties.—Effect of Cultivation on its Growth.—Its Artistic Advan- 
tages. 
THE ENGLISH YEW. 
Tus tree does not properly belong to this country, as 
it isa native of England, Europe, and Asia. It is famous 
on account of its length of life, there being many of the 
yews that are over a thousand years of age. From time 
immemorial it has been planted as a symbol of grief, in 
churchyards, most probably on account of its dark, beau- 
tiful foliage ; some of these trees reach an immense size, 
not so much in girth, but in the spread of their branches 
and the thickness of the foliage. The wood is very 
strong, fine grained, elastic, and unexcelled for durabil- 
ity. The yew succeeds much farther north in Europe 
than it does in this country; its cultivation being very 
unsatisfactory in this country as far north as Philadel- 
phia. It should be planted in a shaded situation and 
carefully tended, and then perhaps it may amount to 
something, but even this is doubtful. 
THE AMERICAN YEW, OR GROUND HEMLOCK. 
This variety always grows in evergreen woods, and 
is always a straggling, prostrate shrub. Bryant says: 
“TI have seen it in the cold, dark, evergreen forests of 
New England, the prostrate stem extending ten or fif- 
