THE YEW TREE, 



61 



the yew trees, which are close at hand, are to 

 me a shield against its fury ; and, in fact, they 

 offer me a protection little inferior to that of 

 the house itself. 



I have not been sparing in the arrangement 

 of ornamental yew trees. Just sixty yards from 

 the bridge which joins the island to the main, 

 there is a yew tree crescent, three hundred feet 

 in extent; and not far from this, there are 

 some fine clumps of the same plant, producing 

 a very pleasing effect. Should he, who will 

 succeed to them when I am low in dust, have 

 the philosophy to set at naught the modern 

 disapprobation of ornamental planting in lines 

 and circles, he will always command the sweet 

 warbling of unnumbered songsters, from earliest 

 spring to latest summer : for the yew tree is a 

 kind friend to the feathered race ; and the wren 

 and the hedge-sparrow will sing sweetly amidst 

 its foliage throughout the autumn, and even 

 after the winter season has set in. 



The cultivation of the yew tree is sure and 

 simple. It will thrive in any soil that is clear 

 of swamp : but, the richer the soil, the 

 richer is the appearance of its foliage ; and if 

 the planter will trench his ground from two to 



