Whilst we're on the topic, far more interesting than whether Italian yew is better is why Italian yew is better. Is there some special characteristc? Denser? Thinner/thicker growth rings? Quicker/slower growing? Tougher fibres?
If it really does have better cast and better resistance to string breakage and survives better in the cold, there is presumably something other than simply where it grew. What effect did the location have on the structure of the wood?
Hi Chakazulu, well you have hit the nail on the head, it is all to do with the conditions it grows in.
The Italian Yew I use grows at very high Altitudes, in the Dolomites and Alps, it usually grows in cracks in the mountain on very steep gradients, and in extreme temperatures with very poor soil quality.
Looking at the areas these trees grow, they have a lot to deal with.
The areas these trees grow are not totally in the sun light, 1 side will always be in darkness due to the proximity of other trees around it and the fact that it is in a crack in the mountain or where 2 mountains meet.
The very steep Gradients mean that any water passing by will do just that, Pass it by on its way down the mountain.
The soil quality is terrible, there may be if your lucky a couple of inches of poor quality soil with an Alp or Dolomite underneath it. Any nutrients in the soil are washed away by any rain fall.
The Temperatures it endures can range from 30deg in the summer daytime to -20 in the winter night time, being that high up the temperatures are all exagerated.
In effect what you end up with a tree that has had to fight to survive and this makes the wood incredibly hard and dense.
eg. a 200 year old tree grown in England in perfect growing conditions for trees may be up to 3 feet in diameter, whereas in the conditions the high altitude Italian trees grow the tree maybe 6" in diameter, so you get incredibly tight growth rings, so tight that when you take the back to a single growth ring you would struggle to achieve this with tools normally used, eg. Draw knife and scraper, instead you need to use sand paper to do this job as one scrape with a scraper could result in going through 3 o 4 growth rings instead of 1/2 a ring on less dense wood.
This is why this wood was so highly prized in the medieval period and why so much of it was imported to England.
There has been much talk of seeing bows from High Altitude yew that come from bigger trees, however the fact of the matter is they don't come much bigger, the largest diameter tree I have seen was about 9" in diameter and this tree was approx 400 years old, it was also quite low down on the mountain, approx 800mtrs, see picture
You can see also in this picture the size of the other trees cut and how much smaller they are. These are not boughs(Branches), these are all the Boles (Trunks).
All these will be ready for making bows from in another 3 years, they were cut 2 years ago.
I hope this helps with your questions.
Steve
