AND THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOMED 



island to a superlative degree, all being emi- 

 nently usefial, if not ornamental. The first is 

 Asperula odorata, the Sweet Woodruff of old 

 England and the foundation of the Mai-trank of 

 Germany. The young sprigs are gathered in 

 spring and placed in a good-sized punch-bowl, 

 when a bottle of Rhine wine is poured over them. 

 The leaves are allowed to steep for twenty-four 

 hours, when a second or third bottle of wine is 

 added, with sugar to the taste and a single block 

 of ice. When cool enough, we will, if you please, 

 gather around the bowl. A. odor at a does not 

 grow wild in America, and is not often found in 

 gardens. There is, however, a plant which has 

 some resemblance to it, Galium trifolium, and this 

 the German-American in his innocence often 

 gathers for the Meisterwurz. Mr. F. V. Coville, 

 the Botanist of the Agricultural Department at 

 Washington, once told me that he had on several 

 occasions been called upon to identify the Galium 

 trifolium, and that the parties seeking the informa- 

 tion were invariably of German descent, and he 

 could not understand at first the interest of these 

 people in this particular plant. When the use to 

 which Asperula odorata was put was explained to 

 him, the solution of the puzzle was not difficult. 



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