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118 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />
occurrence <strong>of</strong> poisoning. Also <strong>the</strong> half-dried leaves would be, cateris paribus,<br />
more potent than <strong>the</strong> fresh.<br />
" Fur<strong>the</strong>r and extended chemical researches, in conjunction with physiological<br />
experiments, are necessary to clear up <strong>the</strong> matter.<br />
" The principle having a specific uterine action is possibly not <strong>the</strong> same as<br />
that which causes death."<br />
This poison, if taken in sufficient quantity, is deadly to man, horses, asses,<br />
sheep, cattle, pigs, pheasants, and possibly o<strong>the</strong>r animals, but under ordinary<br />
circumstances small quantities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaves may be and are habitually eaten by<br />
live-stock without apparent injury, whilst it seems proved that <strong>the</strong> wood <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> yew<br />
may be used for water vessels and for baths, as in Japan, without any deleterious<br />
effects.<br />
Sargent, Silva <strong>of</strong>. North America, vol. x., 63, says " no cases <strong>of</strong> poisoning<br />
by Taxus in North America appear to be recorded " ; and Brandis, Forest Flora<br />
<strong>of</strong> British India, p. 541, says that "in India domestic animals are said to browse<br />
upon T. baccata without experiencing any bad effects."<br />
With regard to <strong>the</strong> danger <strong>of</strong> allowing this tree to grow in hedges and<br />
fields where stock are pastured, <strong>the</strong>re seems to be abundant evidence, which is<br />
well summarised by Mr. E. P. Squarey, and which my own experience entirely<br />
confirms, that though animals which have been bred and fed in places where<br />
<strong>the</strong>y have access to yew are more or less immune, probably because <strong>the</strong>y never<br />
eat it in sufficient quantity to do harm, yet that animals freshly turned into such<br />
places when hungry, or in winter and spring when <strong>the</strong>re is little grass, are liable<br />
to die from eating it, and that fatal effects most commonly ensue when loppings<br />
or partially wi<strong>the</strong>red branches and leaves are eaten.<br />
It has been held in more than one case that landowners, and o<strong>the</strong>rs responsible<br />
for keeping up fences, who allow yew <strong>trees</strong> to remain insufficiently fenced, are<br />
liable to an action for damages if ano<strong>the</strong>r person's cattle from adjoining land eat<br />
<strong>the</strong> branches and die.<br />
With regard to <strong>the</strong> danger <strong>of</strong> yew <strong>trees</strong> in game coverts we have little exact<br />
knowledge, but in certain cases <strong>the</strong>re seems to be evidence <strong>of</strong> its being poisonous<br />
to pheasants, and <strong>the</strong> following passage, which was communicated by Sir William<br />
ffolkes, Bart., <strong>of</strong> Hillington Hall, Norfolk, to <strong>the</strong> editor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal<br />
Agricultural Society, 1 892, p. 698, is worth quoting in full.<br />
" Some years ago, when shooting through <strong>the</strong> coverts here <strong>the</strong> second time,<br />
we found about fifteen carcasses <strong>of</strong> pheasants under some yew <strong>trees</strong>. These<br />
could not have been overlooked <strong>the</strong> first time in picking up, as <strong>the</strong>re was no<br />
stand anywhere near this place where so many pheasants could have been shot.<br />
My keeper informs me that it is after <strong>the</strong> pheasants have been disturbed by<br />
shooting that <strong>the</strong>y take to perching in <strong>the</strong> yew <strong>trees</strong>. This may or may not be<br />
so, but at any rate it appears that, when <strong>the</strong>y take to perching in <strong>the</strong>se <strong>trees</strong>,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are apt to eat a few <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaves. We now always drive <strong>the</strong>m <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> yew<br />
<strong>trees</strong> when <strong>the</strong>y go to perch at night. I enclose some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> yew which<br />
poisoned <strong>the</strong> pheasants, and would like to add that never before this year have<br />
Taxus 119<br />
we picked up a dead pheasant anywhere near <strong>the</strong>se yew <strong>trees</strong> till <strong>the</strong> coverts had<br />
been shot."<br />
We have no record <strong>of</strong> any case <strong>of</strong> deer being poisoned by yew, though no<br />
doubt in a heavy snow <strong>the</strong>y might be tempted to eat it, and Mr. Squarey states<br />
that in <strong>the</strong> " Great and Little Yews" <strong>of</strong> which I write later, hares and rabbits,<br />
which are very numerous, have never been found dead from poisoning.<br />
I may add that I have frequently seen yews <strong>of</strong> a few inches in girth barked<br />
and killed by rabbits where <strong>the</strong>y are very numerous and hungry, but it is one <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> last <strong>trees</strong> to be attacked.<br />
CULTIVATION<br />
The yew is best raised from seed, except in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> varieties which are<br />
propagated by cuttings, which are taken <strong>of</strong>f in April or August and put into<br />
sandy soil in a shady border, or, better, under a handlight, as <strong>the</strong>y will <strong>the</strong>n root<br />
more quickly.<br />
Seed, if sown when ripe, will sometimes come up in <strong>the</strong> following spring,<br />
but usually lies over <strong>the</strong> first year, and is <strong>the</strong>refore treated like haws. The<br />
seedlings grow very slowly at first, and require several years <strong>of</strong> nursery cultivation<br />
before <strong>the</strong>y are large enough to plant out.<br />
They are easy to transplant in early autumn or in spring, and may be safely<br />
moved at almost any time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> year even when <strong>of</strong> large size, if care is taken<br />
to prepare <strong>the</strong> roots and keep <strong>the</strong>m watered until new ones are formed.<br />
The yew in Buckland Churchyard, about a mile from Dover, may be mentioned<br />
as an instance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>great</strong> age at which this tree may be transplanted with safety, if<br />
proper care and appliances are used. This tree was a very old and large one,<br />
divided into two stems, one <strong>of</strong> which, almost horizontal, was 10 feet 10 inches,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> entire trunk no less than 22 feet in girth. It was removed by <strong>the</strong> late<br />
Mr. W. Barren on March i, 1880, to a position 60 yards <strong>of</strong>f, where Mr. John<br />
Barron <strong>of</strong> Elvaston Nurseries tells me it is now in a vigorous state <strong>of</strong> health. An<br />
account <strong>of</strong> this tree is given by Lowe; and <strong>the</strong> manner in which it was transplanted,<br />
with pictures <strong>of</strong> its appearance before and after removal, is described fully in Card.<br />
Chron. 1 880, p. 556-7.<br />
By sowing seeds <strong>the</strong>re is some chance <strong>of</strong> obtaining variegated forms, which<br />
are among <strong>the</strong> most ornamental shrubs we have.<br />
The Hon. Vicary Gibbs has found that at Aldenham <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> nitrate <strong>of</strong><br />
soda increases in a marked degree <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> young yew <strong>trees</strong>. Some yews<br />
planted by him in 1897 and treated with liberal quantities <strong>of</strong> this manure had attained<br />
in 1905 an average height <strong>of</strong> 12 feet, with a girth <strong>of</strong> stem <strong>of</strong> 16 inches at a foot<br />
above <strong>the</strong> base.<br />
SOIL AND SITUATION<br />
Though <strong>the</strong> yew grows naturally most commonly on limestone formations in<br />
England, it will grow on almost any soil except perhaps pure peat and wet clay,