[71] 



A syrup and a jelly made from its juice have proven useful for catarrhal disorders, 

 hemorrhoidal pain with constipation, and for painful afflictions of the kidneys and 

 bladder. 



The bark and the leaves of the yew, or these same parts of the tree when dried and 

 administered as a powder, appear to be harmful. At a dose of two eighths of an ounce 

 they produce nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and drowsiness. When thrown into stagnant 

 water they paralyze or even kill the fish. The ancients believed that the shade of the yew 

 tree was fatal. This clearly is wrong. But there is reason to believe, in agreement with 

 recent experience, that too long a stay beneath its branches can bring on headaches and a 

 kind of intoxication. 



Formerly yews were planted in all large gardens with the intent to prune them or 

 rather mutilate them in a hundred different ways. This perverted practice is over with, at 

 least in France. Nowadays they're left on their own, but they've become scarce. The wood 

 of the yew tree is one of the most beautiful native woods used by cabinet-makers for 

 veneer and inlaid work. It can even be colored a very bright purple-violet, more like the 

 beautiful wood of the Indies. The trick is to immerse very thin slabs of it, that cabinet- 

 makers call leaves, in a basin of water for several months. This process brings out the 

 color. It works even better when the submerged wood has all of its sap. 



CULTIVATION. The yew tree is propagated by layering and by cuttings. Both take 

 root easily. The latter procedure is done in February in gentle soil and in the shade. Yew 

 trees prefer good quality slightly cool soil and a moderately shaded site. 



KEY TO PLATE. 



571. Common yew. 1. Branch of male flowers. 2. Male flowers, enlarged. 3. 

 Anther, enlarged. 4. Pit containing a seed. 



