TAXACE7E. — THE YEW TRIBE. 
to reconcile the affections of the living, it is 
somewhat difficult for us to believe that it 
should ever have been in this country the 
principal weapon in the strifeful and momen- 
tous day of war, and that it is associated with 
some of the greatest internal commotions our 
country -ever experienced. Turning to the 
remote pages of our English history, we find 
that from the earliest times to the date of the 
invention of fire-arms, and even afterwards, 
the yew-bow was the chief instrument in the 
hands of contending armies. The famous battle 
of Cressy was fought with yew-bows; and the 
victory of Poictiers was chiefly ascribed to the 
excellent archery of the English with these 
implements. The decisive triumph over the 
Scots in 1402 was obtained by the English 
bow and arrow; and the battle of Agincourt, 
in which Henry V. proved himself so victorious 
over the French, was achieved principally 
through the use of this weapon. 
The Yew is cultivated by seeds, by cuttings, 
and by layering. The berries are ripe in the 
month of October, and it is necessary to watch 
them narrowly, else the birds will devour 
them. Thrushes and blackbirds are remark- 
ably fond of the pulp, but the kernels they 
drop, and they may be always picked up in 
considerable cpiantities under adjoining trees. 
The most expeditious way to collect the berries 
is to spread a large coarse cloth under the 
tree, and then to shake the branches violently; 
but as many of them will still adhere to the 
branches, it is necessary to take a long stick 
with several stubborn twigs left upon one of 
the ends, and draw it sharply along the under 
side of the spray. This treatment will 
readily detach them, and, falling upon the 
cloth, they can of course be speedily got to- 
gether. They should be immediately sown, as 
gathered, in a free moist soil, shaded from the 
south, but not under, or near to, large trees. 
Clayey soil, which is apt to get baked or 
crusted in dry weather, will not suit, for the 
crop depends in a great measure on the state 
of the soil when the seeds begin to vegetate, 
which will be sixteen or seventeen months 
after the time of sowing. If not formerly en- 
riched, the ground should have a good coating 
of well-rotted manure ; and if the sun should 
have access to the young plants, branches must 
be stuck in amongst them in order to shade 
them. Mice will attack the beds immediately 
after the berries are sown, and if not protected, 
they will totally destroy them. The setting 
of traps, &c, is a mere waste of time ; and 
nothing that I know of serves so completely 
to deter them as a coating of fresh unmixed 
horse-dung, sifted with a wide sieve regularly 
over the beds to the depth of an inch. This 
Coating should be pressed down evenly with 
the back of a spade. If, after the lapse of 
several months, it should so far decay as to 
become inefficient, it should be renewed, and 
finally removed with a rake when the seeds 
begin to grow. The plants should remain 
two years in the seed-bed, and then be trans- 
planted into lines nine inches apart, the plants 
in the lines being placed about two inches 
from each other. At the end of two years 
more, they will require to be removed again 
into lines eighteen inches apart, and placed in 
the lines at about six to eight inches from each 
other. Their growth may be considerably 
advanced by pruning off all such side branches 
as interfere with the supremacy of the leader; 
and beyond this treatment they will require 
nothing more at the hands of the nursery- 
man. 
"When cuttings are to be made, shoots of 
nine inches in length should be selected in the 
month of August, taking care to cut them im- 
mediately below the previous year's growth, 
so that a small portion of the wood which is 
two years old may adhere to each. If this be 
attended to, they will strike root more readily. 
The lower leaves should be trimmed off, and 
the slips planted in a sheltered and shady 
border of light sandy soil and peat. In the 
course of two j'ears they will be sufficiently 
rooted to be removed into lines as recom- 
mended for two years' seedlings. 
Layering of this tree is a plan not often re- 
sorted to, and it requires of course a bushy, 
spreading stool from which the branches can 
be made easily to bend into the ground. All 
the layers require to be cut in the same way 
that picotees and carnations are done, that is, 
immediately under a joint from which the 
roots proceed. They require to remain two 
full years at the stool before they are suf- 
ficiently rooted ; and care must be taken when 
planted in nursery lines, to prune them so as 
to induce the plants to furnish themselves 
with proper leading shoots. 
On account of the slowness of its growth, 
and the comparative smallness of the size it 
attains, the Yew will never be in general 
use as a timber tree, though its wood has been 
represented as superior to a great many others 
for cabinet-work. In its living state it will 
continue to be valued for its use in hedges, in 
protecting tender plants, and as affording food 
and shelter to a portion of the winged tribes. 
It is one of the trees from which the night- 
ingale delights to serenade the inhabitants of 
our suburban villas; and its thick shelter is 
particularly agreeable to thrushes, blackbirds, 
and singing birds in general, during the cold 
of winter and throughout spring, before, other 
trees are furnished with leaves. Its great 
charm, however, consists in its singular adapta- 
tion to scenes of a sorrowful and ballowed de- 
scription ; for though many trees' are now 
