we picked up a dead pheasant anywhere near these yew trees till the coverts had been shot."
We have no record of any case of deer being poisoned by yew, though no doubt in a heavy snow they might be tempted to eat it, and Mr. Squarey states that in the "Great and Little Yews" of which I write later, hares and rabbits, which are very numerous, have never been found dead from poisoning.
I may add that I have frequently seen yews of a few inches in girth barked and killed by rabbits where they are very numerous and hungry, but it is one of the last trees to be attacked.
Cultivation
The yew is best raised from seed, except in the case of varieties which are propagated by cuttings, which are taken off in April or August and put into sandy soil in a shady border, or, better, under a handlight, as they will then root more quickly.
Seed, if sown when ripe, will sometimes come up in the following spring, but usually lies over the first year, and is therefore treated like haws. The seedlings grow very slowly at first, and require several years of nursery cultivation before they are large enough to plant out.
They are easy to transplant in early autumn or in spring, and may be safely moved at almost any time of the year even when of large size, if care is taken to prepare the roots and keep them watered until new ones are formed.
The yew in Buckland Churchyard, about a mile from Dover, may be mentioned as an instance of the great age at which this tree may be transplanted with safety, if proper care and appliances are used. This tree was a very old and large one, divided into two stems, one of which, almost horizontal, was 10 feet 10 inches, and the entire trunk no less than 22 feet in girth. It was removed by the late Mr. W. Barron on March 1, 1880, to a position 60 yards off, where Mr. John Barron of Elvaston Nurseries tells me it is now in a vigorous state of health. An account of this tree is given by Lowe; and the manner in which it was transplanted, with pictures of its appearance before and after removal, is described fully in Gard. Chron. 1880, p. 556–7.
By sowing seeds there is some chance of obtaining variegated forms, which are among the most ornamental shrubs we have.
The Hon. Vicary Gibbs has found that at Aldenham the use of nitrate of soda increases in a marked degree the growth of young yew trees. Some yews planted by him in 1897 and treated with liberal quantities of this manure had attained in 1905 an average height of 12 feet, with a girth of stem of 16 inches at a foot above the base.
Soil and Situation
Though the yew grows naturally most commonly on limestone formations in England, it will grow on almost any soil except perhaps pure peat and wet clay,
