be apprehended, for about five weeks, in the commencement of the spring and autumn, when the days are warm, and the evenings cold: in those seasons, the grass being very rich and succulent, the animals are apt to eat too freely.
The following remedies have been recommended, as being peculiarly efficacious in removing the yellows. First, take a handful of the tops of rue, and a similar portion of the greater celandine: let them be cut into small pieces, mixed with 1 oz. of pulverized turmeric (or, if this cannot be procured, of red Saunders-wood), and boiled in three pints of stale beer or ale. When the liquor is lukewarm, it must be given to the animal, and the dose repeated at the expiration of two days. Should a diarrhœa or scowering take place, the following preparation may be administered in the interval: Let 2lbs. of oak-bark be boiled in 1 gallon of water, till one-fourth part be evaporated: it is then to be strained, and 2 lbs. of rice should be boiled in such liquor, till it be soft: half a pound of burnt crust of bread, taken from the lower part of a loaf, and 2 quarts of milk, are next to be added; and the whole is suffered to simmer for about 20 minutes, when it should be divided into two portions, and given in a warm state to the animal.—By this treatment, cattle may be recovered in the course of a few days; provided they have not been too long neglected: for, when the disease has gained ground, such remedies ought to be continued for an additional length of time.
Yellow-weed. See Dyer's-Weed.
YEW-TREE, the Common, or Taxus baccata, L. a native of Britain, and other parts of Europe, as well as of America: it grows in mountainous woods, hedges, and rocky soils; producing its flowers in March or April, which are succeeded by bright-red, soft, oblong berries, containing a mucilaginous white juice, and arriving at perfection in September.
The yew-tree thrives most luxuriantly in a moist, loamy soil: it may be propagated by sowing the ripe berries in autumn, in a shady bed of fresh earth, and covering them to the depth of half an inch, with similar mould: when the young plants appear, they ought to be carefully weeded, and occasionally watered in dry seasons.—In this situation, they must remain for two years; after which they ought to be removed, in the month of October, into beds of unmanured soil, at the distance of six inches from each other, and in rows one foot asunder; being gently watered till they have taken root. Here the plants should again continue for two years; at the expiration of which, they must be transplanted, in autumn, into a nursery, and placed 18 inches from each other, in rows three feet apart. When the young trees have stood three or four years in the nursery, it will be advisable to set them, in September, or October, in dry ground; and, at length, in the subsequent spring, to place them in cold, moist situations, where they are designed to remain.—The period of their growth is computed at 100 years; and their duration in the ground, at four centuries.
Formerly, the yew-tree was cultivated, in Britain, chiefly for the manufacture of bows; but, since these implements of war have been superseded by fire-arms, it is ge-
