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places in moist warm weather, particularly 

 oil smooth barked trees ; but near artificial 

 ponds or dams no growth whatever should 

 be allowed. Roots are the great creators 

 of leaks; nor should they be allowed on 

 masonry. If stone is bored, the bore 

 plugged with dry wood, and the wood 

 then soaked with water (no matter by 

 which end, as regards the grain, the water is 

 imbibed), it will burst asunder the most 

 solid rock, such is the resistless force of 

 turgescence or swelling ; and this force is 

 probably a main agent in raising the sap 

 to the enormous heights which it attains. 

 Roots act on this principle, and they will 

 rend apart the strongest masonry, or lift 

 any weight of stone. In Greece, Italy, and 

 throughout the East, roots are the great 

 dilapidators of the ruins of antiquity. We 

 may observe the effect of a too sudden 

 exposure to the opposite force of drought 

 in the warping and rending asunder of the 

 strongest woody organisations. 



