MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES 53 
necessary to use the pruning knife or saw rather 
severely, both of which can be used with perfect safety 
_ when they are in the hands of a person who thoroughly 
_ understands the yew; provided, of course, he does not 
go to extremes, the yew is a tree that will stand a 
fair amount of rough treatment, and one that can be 
twisted and cut into almost any shape desired. 
I have seen old specimen trees that had grown out 
of shape, or were, perhaps, shutting out the view in 
some part of the garden, taken down and re-trained, 
or cut down with the pruning saw, or knife, as the 
case might be; and yet in a very few years they had 
quite recovered and grown into nice, well shaped trees, 
full of vigour and well furnished with young growth. 
Rather will the tree, if it is carefully managed, be im- 
proved by the severe pruning it has been subjected to. 
Of course, after an operation like the one I am de- 
scribing, great care will have to be taken that every 
use is made of the young growth, as the main object 
to be kept in view is to get the tree well furnished 
again in as little time as possible. ‘There will be very 
little, if any need for using the shears the first year 
after the cutting back has been done; but if the young 
growth is at all rank, it should be carefully thinned 
with an ordinary pruning knife, always taking care 
that only the weaker shoots are removed, leaving the 
stronger ones to grow for use another year, when 
they can be tied in and cover up, as far as possible, 
the old and bare wood. When tying young shoots, 
tarred string will be found most suitable. It answers 
the purpose very well and it is easier to tie than wire, 
although it has a tendency to decay quickly through 
being always exposed to the weather. In the case of 
young shoots the pressure is not great and string will 
generally last as long as the tie is required, as the 
shoots soon become matted and interwoven together ; 
