PART VIII. PICTURESQUE PLANTING. 489 



shades of green, and little ribs or columns, like the spandrils in 

 go thic architecture, and richly mantling their tops; but will 

 also contribute materially to their durability. Walls built with- 

 out mortar would be strengthened by the ivy passing through 

 the crevices and clasping the stones on all sides ; as may be seen 

 at Barnbarrow and Castlewig ; and in mortar walls, by its pre- 

 venting the action of the weather, the same effect would follow. 

 The advantage of ivy in this respect I observed lately at Lud- 

 low Castle ; where part of the surface of a large tower, from 

 which the ivy had lately been cut down, appeared in so much 

 better preservation than the other parts of the castle, that it 

 seemed comparatively a piece of modern masonry. That it will 

 have the same effect upon mortar walls in fields, may be seen 

 on a wall by the side of the road between Chepstow and New 

 Passage. At Belvue and Roslin Castle, near Edinburgh, it is 

 exemplified on sunk fences, and other low walls in moist 

 places. 



Almost the whole of Scotland, and particularly the western 

 counties, would be greatly improved in beauty and shelter by 

 thus using the ivy. There is no exposure nor any soil in which 

 it will not grow and prosper, if carefully planted: but a good 

 deal depends upon this operation ; most people stick in a small 

 branch possessing only the fibres by which it fastens itself to 

 other bodies ; but in clayey or wet soils this method will not 



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