Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1882 — A Popular Error Corrected. [ARTICLE]

A Popular Error Corrected.

It is a popular error to suppose that ivy growing on the walls of q, house makes it damp. The attachment of ivy to walls, so far from injuring them and causing dampness, is an advantage. If the walls are dry when planted, ivy will keep them so. If. damp, as the plant overspreads their .surface the dampness will disappear. Where dampness prevails ivy sucks out the moisture, and its thick foliage will prevent the access of rain to the structure, and thus it is not only a remover but a preventive of dampness. The only danger attending the planting of ivy on buildings is where fissures occur in the walls, in which case the shoots tod roots will enter, and, if left undisturbed, their growth will soon begin to tell upon the building, and will, by increase of growth, push against the sides of the opening, thereby enlarging it, and eventually so weaken the wall as to cause it to fall, Where the wall is sound there is no such danger, for the plant does not make fissures, although quick to discover them. A telegraph—man went to a concert. The violinist played very nicely, holding his audience spell-bound, until suddenly a string snapped. The telegraph-man VhoqM, “ wires dqwn, by George 1”