great hurricane in 1703,
but still it was forty feet in height. At Whitton, in Middlesex, a
remarkable cedar was blown down in 1779. It had attained the height of
seventy feet; the branches covered an area one hundred feet in
diameter; the trunk was sixteen feet in circumference at seven feet
from the ground, and twenty-one feet at the insertion of the great
branches twelve feet above the surface. There were about ten principal
branches or limbs, and their average circumference was twelve feet.
About the age and planter of this immense tree its historians are not
agreed, some of them referring its origin to the days of Elizabeth,
and even alleging that it was planted by her own hand. Another cedar,
at Hillingdon, near Uxbridge, had, at the presumed age of 116 years,
arrived at the following dimensions; its height was fifty-three feet,
and the spread of the branches ninety-six feet from east to west, and
eighty-nine from north to south. The circumference of the trunk, close
to the ground, was thirteen feet and a half; at seven feet it was
twelve and a half; and at thirteen feet, just under the branches, it
was fifteen feet eight inches. There were two principal branches, the
one twelve feet and the other ten feet in girth. The first, after a
length of eighteen inches, divided into two arms, one eight feet and a
half, and the other seven feet ten. The other branch, soon after its
insertion, was parted into two, of five feet and a half each.[2]

[2] We believe the finest cedars in England to be those at Juniper
Hall, between Leatherhead and Dorking.

_The Yew Tree_

(Called _Taxus_, probably from the Greek, which signifies swiftness,
and may allude to the velocity of an arrow shot from a yew-tree bow,)
is a tree of no little celebrity, both in the military and the
superstitious history of England. The common yew is a native of
Europe, of North America, and of the Japanese Isles. It used to be
very plentiful in England and Ireland, and probably also Scotland.
Caesar mentions it as having been abundant in Gaul; and much of it is
found in Ireland, imbedded in the earth. The trunk and branches grow
very straight; the bark is cast annually; and the wood is compact,
hard, and very elastic. It is therefore of great use in every branch
of the arts in which firm and durable timber is required; and, before
the general use of fire-arms, it was in high request for bows: so much
of it was required for the latter pur