The Yew. 



in circumference. I bad not the means of making a very 

 exact measurement ; hut, my error could not be very great ; 

 and this is a monstrous circumference. 



595. The Yev^^ Tree attains an age beyond the possi- 

 bility of human ascertainment, unless some national record 

 were kept of the matter. Its growth is slow; but it ap- 

 pears never to lose any part of that which it gains. The 

 wood surpasses, very far indeed, all other English wood, in 

 point of durability, and of strength, and elasticity joined to 

 both these. It has a red heart, lik« the imperishable Red 

 Cedar of America 5 but it is not odoriferous like the wood 

 of the Red Cedar ; and it is very heavy, while the Red 

 Cedar is very light. The wood never perishes, or, at least, 

 so say the country people. Gate-posts are sometimes 

 made of it, and they have never been known to rot. It is 

 very fine-grained and receives a very high polish. I have 

 seen a kitchen dresser made of it, which being kept in good 

 order, was as shining as any piece of furniture I ever saw. 

 It is super-excellent for making the bows of the backs of 

 wooden chairs ; for making ox-bows, and, it is said, the 

 bows, used by warriors formerly in this country, were made 

 of this wood. Even the slender shoots of it are as tough, 

 or tougher, than those of the Hickory ; and when they 

 happen to get any considerable length, they become whip- 

 handles, and other things, where great toughness and elas- 

 ticity are required. I made a mistake in the article relating 

 to the Elder, paragraph 222, where 1 should have said, 

 " An Elder stake and a Yew hether,'* instead of an Elder 

 stake and a Hazel hether, that would " make a hedge to 

 last for ever." 



596. The Yew appears to grow pretty nearly equally 

 well upon all sorts of land, shallow or deep, dry or wet ; 



Y 



