others would have too many knots, etc. We finally felled twotrees that turned out to be only fair. I, for one, am ready toverify the statement that "one tree in fifty is fit for makinga bow." And, if any one thinks that cutting yew is an easyjob, just let him try scaling those Western mountains, cuttingthe trees, splitting out the billets, then packing them on hisback for a mile or two to the car.
Yew has a thin rind of pure white sapwood, the heartwoodbeing dark in color ranging from yellow to dark red. Theheartwood reacts wonderfully under compression while thesapwood admirably stands stretch. It would seem that naturehas created yew for one purpose only, to be made into bows.For as far back as records go, the long bow has been madefrom yew, using a thin portion of sapwood on the back andheartwood for the belly. This wood makes one of the verybest target bows. At present there is a trend toward lamina-tions but I predict that the time will never come when yewbows will not be represented at every major tournament.
