Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1885 — Ivy on the Wall. [ARTICLE]

Ivy on the Wall.

The common belief that ivy trained against the walls of a dwelling house produces damp walls and general unhealthiness is fallacious. The very opposite is the case. If one will carefully examine an ivy-clad wall after a shower of rain he will notice that while the overlapping leaves have conducted the water from point to point until it has reached the ground, the wall beneath is perfectly dry and dusty. More than this, the thirsty shoots which force their way into every crevice of the structure which will afford a firm held act like suckers, in drawing on any articles of moisture for their own nourishment. The ivy, in fact, acts like a great coat, keeping the house from wet and warm. One more virtue it has in giving to the ugliest structure an evergreen beauty.— Land and Water.