CHAP. CXII.

TAXA'CEAS. TA'XUS.

2091

the entire surface of the hedge will have to be cut in to the same depth every5 or 6 years, otherwise the surface will become so thick and matted with twigsas to exclude the air from the interior, and to kill a number of the branches,so as here and there to form gaps. These gaps, by admitting the air, are themeans of keeping the hedge alive; and it is curious in this way to see naturerelieving herself.

The yew is admirably adapted for underwood; because, like the holly andthe box, it thrives under the shade and drip of other trees. When plantedin masses by itself, the trees are drawn up with straight trunks, like pines andfirs; and, in good loamy soil, on a cool bottom, plantations of yews, treatedin this manner, must evidently be highly valuable. There are some fine yewgroves, with tall clean trunks, at Combermere, in Cheshire; and here andthere in plantations, in most parts of the country, proofs may be obtained thatthe yew, like the cedar of Lebanon, the red cedar, the arbor vitee, the juniper,and various other trees, usually seen as immense bushes, might easily begrown so as to throw all their strength into a clean straight trunk.

Accidents, Diseases, $c. The wood of the yew is tough, and therefore notliable to be injured by storms; and both the wood and the leaves being poi-sonous, neither are attacked by insects ; or if they are, it is in a very slightdegree. The points of the shoots, in some situations and seasons, producelittle tufts of leaves, which may be considered as abortive shoots. Very fewlichens or fungi are ever found on the bark ; because that, as we have alreadyobserved, scales off’every year. Sphae'ria Y'axi Sow., t. 494. f. 6., is commonon the branchlets and leaves.

Statistics. Recorded. Trees. The list of these might be greatly extended ; but we shall confineourselves to a few, commencing with one mentioned by Evelyn as growing in the churchyard ofCrowhurst, in Surrey, with a trunk 10 ft. in diameter. The same author also mentions “ a super-annuated yew tree, growing in Braburne churchyard, in Kent, with a trunk 8 ft. 11 in. in circum,ference, which had been blown down, and sawn up into goodly planks, and considerable pieces ofsquared and clear timber. Such another monster,” be says, “ is to be seen in Sutton churchyard,near Winchester.” {Hunt. Evel., vol. ii. p. 195.) Box Hill, in Surrey, was, in the timeof Evelyn,ascelebrated for its yews as for its box trees. A tree at Hedsor, in Bucks, near the church, is said tohave measured 9ft. in diameter j but this tree no longer exists. White mentions a yew tree in thechurchyard of Selborne, which, in 1789, was apparently of great age. The body was squat, short, andthick, and girted 23 ft., supporting a large head. It was a male tree; and, in the spring, it shed cloudsof dust. Most of the yew trees in the churchyards of that neighbourhood, he says, are males ; which,White thinks, must be matter of mere accident, since, when these trees were planted, it was not gene-rally known that there were sexes in trees ; but, since he allows that the male trees are of more ro-bust growth than the females, by selecting the strongest plants from seed-beds in which the plantsstood all at equal distances, the chance would be in favour of males. A tree at Little Shardon, nearShareshiil, in Staffordshire, had, in 1780, a singularly picturesque appearance, and formed one of avast number of very old and large yew trees. (See Gent. Mag., vol. ix. p. 1187., Supp., where a figureof this picturesque tree is given.) In Scotland, according to Dr. Walker, there were a great many yewtrees in the latter end of the last century, with trunks varying from 6ft. to 52ft. in circumference;the latter being the dimensions of the Fortingal Yew. On the hills between Dumbarton and LochLomond, there were, in the beginning of the present century, many hundreds of large yew trees, allof which have been cut down and sold. Hayes, in 1794, records several trees as at that time existingin Ireland. At Dunganstone, he saw above 30 trees, most of them with clear trunks 2 ft. in dia-meter, and upwards of 30 ft. high. A yew tree at Fornace, in Kildare, the same author observes,has a trunk 4 ft. in diameter at 6 ft. from the ground ; and the diameter of the head is 66 ft.

Existing Trees. In the environs of London. There are many yew trees at Syon, and at the Chiswickvilla, between 30 ft. and 50 ft. in height; at Mount Grove, Hampstead, a tree, 18 years planted, is16 ft. high ; at York House, Twickenham, 100 years old, it is50ft. high.—South of London. In De-vonshire, in the churchyard of Stoke-Gabriel, situated on the river Dart, is a fine old yew, 40 ft.high, the trunk of which is 13 ft. 8 in. in circumference, and the diameter of the head is 70 ft. ; atabout 7 ft from the ground, the trunk divides into two limbs, one of 5 ft. 6 in., and the other 4 ft. 6 in.,in circumference. In Dorsetshire, at Melbury Park, 200 years old, it is 55ft. high, the diameter ofthe trunk 3 ft., and that of the head 51 ft. In the Isle of Jersey, in Saunders’s Nursery, 10 yearsplanted, it is 9 ft. high. In Somersetshire, at Brockley Hall, it is 30ft. high, with a trunk 18ft. incircumference ; another, with a trunk 17 ft. in circumference : at Leigh Court, it is 45 ft. high, thecircumference of the trunk 11 ft., and the diameter of the head 48ft. In Surrey, at Titsey Place,near Godstone, it is 48 ft. high, the circumference of the trunk, at 5 ft. from the ground, is 18 ft. 6 in.and the diameter of the head between 60 ft. and 70 ft. In Hone’s Every Day Book is an engraving of ayew tree in Windlesham churchyard, near Bagshot, Surrey, said to have been planted in the time ofWilliam the Conqueror, 21 ft. high, and 12 ft. in girt. In Sussex, at Cowdray, it is 30 ft. high, witha trunk of 4 ft. in diameter ; at Kidbrooke, it is 40 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft. Gin., andof the head 54 ft. In Wiltshire, at Longleat, 300 years old, it is 36 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk10 ft. 4 in., and that of the head 42 ft.-— North of London. In Berkshire, at Aldsworth, near Wal-lingford, in the churchyard, is one 27 ft. 3 in. in circumference at 5 ft. from the ground: it has a fineregular head, urn-shaped, though, compared with the trunk, it is a dwarf. At Hampstead Marshall,there are the remains of a very old yew, the trunk of which was 47 ft. in circumference a few yearsago; but which, in 1836, was only 37 ft. in circumference. In Cheshire, at Tabley Hall, 70 yearsold, it is 30 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk I ft., and of the head 96 ft. In Denbighshire, atLlanbede Hall, 35 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3ft., and that of the head 41 ft. In Durham,at Southend, 28 years planted, it is 20 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft, and that of the head