THE ELOEAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



135 



archdeacon, a" churchwarden replied, 

 that nothing so effectually keeps a 

 building dry as ivy ; for, after the 

 heaviest rain, the wall to which it ad- 

 heres will be found quite dry, the 

 leaves acting as a weather-board or 

 vertical tiling, to throw every drop of 

 rain away from it. Its exuberant 

 and web-like roots," he said, "bind 

 everything together with which they 

 come in contact, with such a firm and 

 intricate lace-work, that not a single 

 stone can be removed from its position 

 Avithout first tearing away its protect- 

 ing safeguard " This holding of the 

 old fabric together may be of further 

 importance in the case of venerable 

 old churches, on which restorers have 

 cast their Vandalic and Iconoclastic 

 eyes — perhaps, the warden had such in 

 view, when he laid stress on the con- 

 servative principles of his favourite 

 evergreen. In proof of his statements, 

 he refers to ruins of castles and abbeys, 

 "for while in those parts of the struc- 

 ture that have not had the advantage 

 of this protection, all has gone to utter 

 decay, where the ivy has thrown its 

 preserving mantle, everything is com- 

 paratively perfect and fresh, and, often- 

 times, the very angles of old sculptured 

 stones are found to be almost as sharp 

 and entire as when they first came from 

 the mason's yard ! " 



If I thought it necessaiy to say any- 

 thing further with a view to the utter 

 explosion of the absurd notion, that ivy 

 causes damp when attached to build- 

 ings, I could heap up evidence from 

 noted architects, experienced builders, 

 and horticulturists innumerable, but 

 there is no such need ; it is a protector, 

 not a destroyer, and, for many other 

 reasons besides its beauty, is worthy of 

 the universal admiration accorded it. 



To cover a wall with ivy, however, 

 is not the work of a day or even a 

 season. When well established in a 

 position it likes, it makes long joints 

 every year, but it is most tardy at first, 

 and, until the second year, makes but 

 little growth. This is the reason why, 

 at the nurseries, the price of ivy always 

 appears exorbitant. It can't be helped ; 

 you must pay for the time it takes to 

 grow a plant, even if the nurseryman 

 gets his cuttings for nothing, and, if 

 you purpose raising ivy for your own use, 



you must exercise patience. Ivy comes 

 from seeds freely, but by cuttings we 

 get sizeable plants much quicker. 

 Among a batch of seedlings there wilt 

 often occur one or two with novel 

 markings sufficiently distinct to con- 

 stitute a variety, and as varieties are 

 highly prized, the hope of obtaining 

 a sport should lead those who have the 

 opportunity, to raise a few every year 

 from seed. It is not long since, a cor- 

 respondent wrote to say he found great 

 difficulty in getting ivy to strike. The 

 truth is, that it takes its time about it, 

 but it is pretty sure to make root some 

 day or other, whether you put in ripe 

 hard stems or young shoots, and it will 

 root, too, in the sun, in the shade, in 

 sand, loam, peat, and clay, almost in- 

 differently. But the proper way to get 

 a stock of ivy is, to prepare a piece of 

 ground on a north border expressly for 

 the purpose. It ought to be sandy, 

 quite shaded, and moist. That it should 

 root quickly, in such a spot, you might 

 expect, because it holds faster to a north 

 wall than it does to a south one, and the 

 little teeth with which it bites the wall 

 are nothing else than incipient roots, 

 which can make no further progress in 

 the hard material, and so become hard- 

 ened in it. But about the end of April, 

 and from that to the middle of June, 

 gently draw from a wall a young shoot 

 that has not quite got hold, and you will 

 find the teeth to be in a tender root-like 

 state, and if the shoot is removed, and 

 the joint that has the longest bunch 

 of white teeth attached to it, is care- 

 fully planted and kept moist and 

 steady, it will make a good plant 

 that season, owing to the roots hav- 

 ing been thrown out before it was 

 planted. This is, perhaps, the quickest 

 v y of getting plants, but it cannot be 

 practised to an}' great extent, because 

 people cannot afford to strip every 

 young shoot from a wall for the pur- 

 pose of turning to account the incipient 

 roots with which they are furnished. 

 But if you wanted a dozen pot plants 

 of ivy to grow over a wire umbrella, 

 or for any such special purpose, that 

 would be the way to get them. Take 

 off the young shoot at a point well 

 furnished with soft white teeth--you 

 must not break or injure one of them 

 in detaching it — put a little drainage 



