May 18, 1882. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
407 
The oldest bit of masonry in England is the Eoman Pharos, on the 
Castle Hill at Dover, and that ancient lighthouse, 1600 or 1700 years 
old perhaps, is, for a ruin, in wonderful preservation. The Fortingal 
Yew is said to be 2500 years old, and De Candolle estimated the age 
of the Brabourne Yew in Kent at 3000 years old, making it con¬ 
temporary with the building of Palmyra, and the visit of the Queen 
of Sheba to Solomon. As a sapling it had 1200 years to wait for the 
landing of Cmsar. The Darley Yew, Derbyshire, is believed to be 
2000 years old ; the Crowhurst Yew, Sussex, 1400 years old; the 
Fountain’s Abbey Yews, Yorkshire, sheltered the builders of that 
great monastic establishment, and its founders held a council under 
their shade in a.d. 1132. The Yew Grove of Norbury Park, Surrey, 
was standing at the time of the Druids. The Yews of Kingly 
Bottom, on the Downs near Chichester, stood there at the landing of 
the Yikings in Kent and Sussex. The Ankerwyke Yew witnessed— 
speaking metaphorically—the signing of Magna Charta in 1215. The 
Yew in the churchyard at Harlington, Middlesex, is more than 850 
years old. But these are comparatively modern records.” 
SELECT NARCISSI. 
The woodcut (fig. 81) represents another group of four pretty 
Narcissi from Messrs. Barr & Sugden’s collection of distinct types, 
Fig. 81 .—Narcissuses.—1, Leedsi Beauty; 2, Burbidgei margixatus; 3, Ajax Shirley Hibberp; 4, Barri J. G. Bead. 
and remarkable for the neatness of their flowers and the clearness 
of the colours. 1, Leedsi Beauty is a charming representative of 
another distinct group of hybrids, chiefly the result of crossing 
incomparabilis albus with montanus. The petals are white, the 
crown being of a most delicate but an extremely pale creamy 
yellow. 2, Burbidgei marginatus is one of a beautiful group of 
hybrids, upon which has been bestowed the name of Mr. F. W. 
Burbidge, Curator of the Trinity College Botanic Gardens, Dublin. 
They are nearly related to the ever-admired N. poeticus type, but 
also possess some of the incomparabilis characters. They are 
rather earlier than the poeticus forms, and the crown is usually 
less shallow, and the margin more richly coloured. The form 
shown in the cut has pure white oval petals, the crown being 
creamy yellow tipped with orange, inclining to scarlet. 3, Ajax 
Shirley Hibberd is a handsome form of the large trumpet-crowned 
section, very noble and imposing in appearance. Ihe petals are 
pale yellow, oval, and spreading, the deep crown being light clear 
orange. 4, Barri J, G. Read is of the same type as that figured 
