P U B L I S H ED  F I VE  T I M ES  Y E A R LY  A ND  D I S T R I B U T ED  F R EE 

TO  L O V E RS  OF  B E A U T I F UL  T U RF 

Vol.  VI 
No. 1 

NIMBLE  WILL 

Seed  Grass, 

by  seeds  and 

to  October. 
to  Minnesota 

Other  Names—Drop 

Wire  Grass. 

Perennial—Propagates 
by  rooting  at  the  joints. 
Seed  Time—September 
Range—From  Maine 

and  southward  to 
the  Gulf. 

Habitat—Lawns, 

both  in  open  areas 
and  in  woods  or  in 
shady places around 
buildings. 

This  weed  is  a 
creeping 
type  of 
low  growing,  slen-
der  stemmed, small 
leafed  grass.  It  has 
underground  stems 
and  spreads  freely 
in lawns.  Its  tough, 
interlacing,  fibrous 
roots  make  a  sod 
which  is  very  diffi-
cult  to  break up.  A 
single  plant  may in 
time completely oc-
cupy  as  much  as  a  square  foot  of  sur-
face.  Because  of  its  spreading,  branching 
and  creeping  nature,  Nimble  Will  makes 
a  thick  growth  which  is  often  mistaken 
for  a  desirable  lawn  variety. 

LEAVES  LONG  AND  SLENDER. 

The  stems  of  Nimble  Will  are  ten 
inches  to  two  feet  long,  somewhat  flat-

February 

1933 

tened,  usually  prostrate  at  the  base  and 
often  rooting  at  the  lower 
joints  and 
from  these 
joints  flowering  stalks  are 
erected.  The  leaves  are  very  narrow  be-
ing  no  more  than  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
wide  and  rough  to  the  touch.  The  pani-
(irregular  flower  cluster  where  the 
cle 
seeds  ripen) 
is  very  slender,  weak  and 

bending. 

D I F F I C U LT  TO 

ERADICATE. 

By  its  very  na-
ture  of 
growth, 
Nimble Will  quali-
fies  as  a  trouble-
some  lawn  pest.  It 
is  hard 
to  eradi-
cate  because  of  its 
re-seeding  habit. 
Comparatively  few 
people  who  have 
this  weed  in  their 
lawns  know  it  by 
name  but  they  are 
familiar  with  it  by 
sight. 

Difussa. 

Nimble  Will 

is 
particularly  un-
sightly  when  dor-
mant  during  late  winter  and  early spring. 
Its  brown,  dead  looking  growth  has  an 
appearance  similar  to  dead  crab  grass. 
However,  it  need  not  be  confused  with 
the  latter,  since  Nimble  Will  does  not 
flatten  against the  ground  like  crab  grass, 
and,  in  addition,  the  plants  are  much 
more  leafy. 
* 

V O L U ME  6 

[ 1] 

N I M B LE  W I L L,  Muhlenbergia 

product  quite  freely  in  Muncie  the  cara-
van  moved  to  Toledo,  Ohio.  By  that 
time  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  had 
notified 
the  Toledo  Better  Business 
Bureau.  A  bulletin  was  promptly  sent  to 
local  concerns  which  might  be  affected 
and  the  "Doctor"  immediately  checked 
out  of  the  Hotel  Commodore  for  parts 
unknown. 

it 

in  which 

Please  accept  this  admonition  in  the 
friendly  spirit 
is  given: 
Don't  fall  for  anything  radically  new 
and  novel  in  the  realm  of  plant  life  with-
out  consulting  your  Experiment  Station 
or  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at 
Washington.  They  have  nothing  to  sell 
and  you  may  be  sure  they  are  abreast  of 
the  times. 

NOTE:  Since 

this  article  appeared 
LAWN  CARE  has  traced  the  activities  of 
Dr.  Miller  all  over  the  western  half  of 
the  country.  He  has  been  frequently  de-
tained  in  penal  institutions  which  have 
served  only  to  remove  him  temporarily 
from circulation.  Upon  being  released  he 
has  promptly  returned  to  his  "profes-
sion,"  now  and  then  with  a  different 
name,  always  with  a  different  address 
and  sometimes  with  a  brand  new  name 
for  his  product,  for  instance  "Che-ma." 
Dr.  Miller  is  now  (1937)  74  years  of 
age  so  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  his 
"gypping"  days  are  almost  over.  We 
trust  he  has  no  junior  partner. 

MEANS  OF  CONTROL. 

Where  Nimble  Will  appears  in  fields 
that  can  be  cultivated  its  suppression  is 
not  difficult.  In  lawns,  however,  it  is  a 
pest  for which  there  is  no  control  method 
except  hand-digging.  Of  course  it  is  im-
portant  to  remove  the  maturing  plants 
before  the  seeds  ripen.  As  in  the  case  of 
Crab  Grass,  Nimble  Will  may  be  smoth-
ered  out  by  covering  an  infested  area 
with  boards  or  tarred  paper. 

teHerbae M ira" or 
What Have You? 
AC E R T A IN  gentleman,  if  such  he 

might  be  called,  bearing  the  name 
of  Dr.  Miller,  has  been  touring  Indiana 
and  Ohio  the  past  two  months  in  com-
pany  with  a  huge  touring  car  and  two 
colored  attendants,  delivering  to  the  un-
suspecting  a  marvelous 
lawn  mixture 
which  he  called  "Herbal  Mira."  It  seems 
that  this  grass  would  grow  only  2J4 
inches  high  (at  least  before  the  Doctor 
left  town),  and  thus  the  trusty  mower 
might  be  left  untouched  from  spring 
until 
fall — certainly  not  a  pleasant 
thought  for  the  lawn  mower  manufac-
turers.  "Herbse  Mira"  was  sold  at  from 
¿1.00 
to  ¿1.50  per  pound  depending 
upon  the  quantity  purchased.  A  cus-
tomer  of  ours,  Mr.  Carl  H.  Smith,  of 
the  Hemingray  Glass  Company  at  Mun-
cie,  Indiana,  was  good  enough  to  send 
us  a  sample  of  the  seed,  which,  we  want 
to  add,  he  did  not  buy.  "Herbae  Mira" 
was  identified  at  once  as  a  mixture  of 
very  ordinary  domestic  Rye  Grass  and 
Redtop,  obtainable  at  almost  any  seed 
store  for  no  more  than  15c  per  pound. 
Both  grasses  used  alone  are 
too 
coarse  for  a  lawn  and  instead  of  growing 
2]/2  inches  tall  they  are  objectionable  in 
particular  because  they  grow  quite  tall 
and  very  fast.  The  "Doctor"  simply  had 
his  facts  in  reverse.  After  selling  his 

far 

[ 2] 

V O L U ME  6