488 
AMERICAN AURIC!!LTErRIST. 
[November 
of the weeds and their names, even if no 
effort were made to teach them. That some 
method is needed in this country, by which 
the children of farmers, and also the farmers 
themselves, could be made familiar with the 
appearance of the most troublesome weeds, 
is shown by our correspondence. We receive 
every few days letters asking the name of 
exceedingly common weeds, but which have 
recently forced themselves upon the notice 
of the senders. It is often the case that a 
comparatively innocent plant, being a new 
comer and unknown, causes great alarm for 
fear that it may be of a dangerous character. 
The Canada Thistle is known by reputation 
in those places where it has not yet appeared, 
and we receive each year several different 
plants with the inquiry if they are not the 
dreaded Thistle. Another plant similarly 
feared by farmers is the Quack or Couch- 
grass, and numerous innocent grasses have 
been sent under suspicion of being this. If 
the children of these farmers could see at 
school, good colored plates of these weeds, 
they would know that whatever the sus¬ 
pected plants might be, they were not the 
dreaded weeds, and relieve the anxiety of 
their parents. The grass most frequently 
mistaken for the Quack-grass (Triticum 
repens), is the Mexican Drop-seed ( Muhlen - 
bergia Me.ricana), which, in its manner of 
spreading by underground stems, is much like 
the other, and is sufficiently annoying, espe¬ 
cially in gardens, to merit a prominent place 
among weeds. Singularly enough, those who 
have written upon grasses, though they men¬ 
tion its running root-stocks, do not speak of 
their troublesome character. As it evidently 
passes for Quack-Grass with a great many, 
we will endeavor to show how it ,may be 
identified. The stems, somewhat slender and 
wiry, are from one to two, and in rich soils 
three feet high, and are much branched, often 
giving off a branch at each joint. The under¬ 
ground stems, or root-stocks, shown reduced 
in the engraving, are thickly covered with 
scales, and run a short distance below the 
surface, extending in all directions from six 
inches to several feet, according to the nature 
of the soil. The panicle or flower cluster 
terminates the main stem and the branches, 
its base is often enwrapped by the upper leaf; 
it is much branched, but the densely-flowered 
branches are not spreading, and they are 
often tinged with purple. The individual 
spikelets are of very simple structure ; one of 
them is shown much enlarged at the lower 
right-hand corner of the engraving. They 
consist of two glumes (the outer scales) with¬ 
in which is a single floret of two palets ; as 
the outer incloses the other, but one is shown; 
all the parts of the spikelet are very acute, or 
sharp-pointed, but bear no awns or bristles. 
The genus Muhlenbergia was named after the 
Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, an 
excellent botanist, who wrote a work upon 
grasses in the early part of this century. 
There are about 10 species east of the Missis¬ 
sippi, but farther west and southward in 
Mexico they are more numerous. They were 
formerly included in Agrostis, and as Lin¬ 
naeus probably first received this species from 
Mexico, he named it Agrostis Mexicana, and 
the specific name was retained when it was 
placed in Muhlenbergia, though it is not so 
common in Mexico as it is northward. The 
common name, “Drop-Seed,” comes from 
the fact that some of the species drop the 
seed or grain as soon as ripe. This grass is 
very common, and in the older States, at least, 
is often a great pest in cultivated grounds, 
especially in gardens. It is readily distin¬ 
guished from Quack-Grass by the flower 
cluster. In Quack-Grass the much larger 
spikelets are placed directly upon the stem, 
forming a dense spike or head, like a small 
head of wheat, while in the Drop-Seed the 
cluster is branched. Each scale upon the 
root-stock stands at a joint which bears a 
bud ; when broken apart each of these joints 
will grow and form a new plant, hence 
careless culture will increase the grass rather 
than subdue it. When the grass is first dis¬ 
the wild or creeping thtme (Thymus Sa-pyllum). 
covered in cultivated grounds, it should be 
at once forked out, taking care to pick up 
every fragment of root-stock.. If too much 
of the troublesome grass is present for this 
treatment, then a crop that may be often hoed 
or some smothering crop should be tried. 
Wild Thyme, a Troublesome Weed. 
A few weeks ago we received from E. 
Hurley, Delaware Co., N. Y., specimens of 
a plant, with the statement, that it threaten¬ 
ed to destroy his meadows and pastures, and 
asking for its name, and for the remedy. 
The plant was found, on examination, to be 
the Wild or Creeping Thyme (Thymus Ser- 
pylluin), which is not generally known as a 
troublesome plant. Mr. H. writes that in 
his section “ it is spreading rapidly, and that, 
when in full possession, it covers the ground 
like a Brussel’s carpet, exterminating the 
grass. Cattle will not eat it, 
and land that cannot be cul¬ 
tivated will be rendered en¬ 
tirely useless.” He adds that: 
“Unless this weed can be ex¬ 
terminated, large areas of 
dairy lands must be complete¬ 
ly ruined.” It is seldom that 
we have any data as to the 
time of introduction and the 
rate of extension of any of our 
established weeds, and we are 
glad of an opportunity to put 
upon record this one at the 
beginning of its campaign. 
The Wild Thyme is a low 
herb, the numerous slender, 
prostrate stems of which form 
dense tufts, from a few inches 
to a foot or more in diameter. 
The engraving gives a few 
separated stems, in order to 
show the shape of the small 
leaves and the manner of flow¬ 
ering. The small purple flow¬ 
ers are in dense clusters at and 
near the end of the stems, and 
in such numbers as to make 
the tuft appear almost covered 
with them. It has an aromatic 
odor, but different from that 
of the Garden Thyme (Thymus 
vulgaris), which is so much 
cultivated as a seasoning herb. 
That differs from this in its 
more erect habit of growth 
and in other particulars. The 
Wild Thyme is found all over 
Europe, and in a large share 
of Asia. While it is especially 
abundant iu Great Britain, we 
do not find, upon reference to 
£*Istim Labels.—Though gardeners all 
over the world have, for hundreds of years, 
been striving after the plant label, which 
should so meet every requirement as to be 
worthy of general adoption,it has not yet been 
found. When the Society of Arts, of London, 
offered prizes in money and a medal, we hoped 
that there would at last appear the label so long 
looked for. The time for awarding the prize 
came not long ago, 120 different forms of la¬ 
bels were offered, but out of the whole num¬ 
ber there was not one regarded as of sufficient 
merit to receive the prize. The trial will be re¬ 
peated; there is to be another competition for 
the same purpose at a future day, and mean¬ 
while we must use the best label we can find. 
English works, that it is anywhere regarded 
as an aggressive weed. In this country it has 
long been known as an introduced plant in the 
New England and Middle States, but so far 
from being troublesome, it is put down in 
the books as “ rare.” Since its appearance in 
Western New York as a weed, we recollect 
to have seen, about fifteen years ago, near 
Newburgh, N. Y., a lawn, in which there 
were several patches of this Thyme. It may 
be that it has yielded to the frequent mow¬ 
ing given to the lawn ; at all events, had it 
spread to a noticeable extent, we should have 
heard of it. As to the treatment of land on 
which this Thyme has established itself, it is 
difficult to advise without a more full knowl¬ 
edge of the locality and of the plant. The 
descriptions do not say anything about the 
character of the root of the plant. If it does 
not “spread by the root,” that is, form under¬ 
ground runners, and if every fragment of the 
root that is broken off will not form buds and 
push out roots, and thus make a plant, 
