NETTLES £50 A TON

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 153, 10 September 1941, Page 7

NETTLES £50 A TON

TURNED INTO MEDICINAL DRUGS From England's shady Avoodlands ind sun-drenched fields, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and A r oluntary groups of Avomen are gathering an unusual wartime harvest. They are picking ••tinging nettles, dandelion roots, meadoAV saffron and other herbs containing useful medicinal drugs. Nettles ara wanted tor fibre extraction and green pigment (chlorophyll); dandelion roots contain digitalis; meadow saffron, colcliicum Before the Avar most of such drugs Avere imported. To-day, skilled gatherers can earn considerable sums by clearing the countryside of A\ r hat to the farmer and the gardener are iust Aveeds. For example, dried nettles fetch £30 to £50 per ton; dandelion roots as much as £5 per CAvt. Hundreds of tons are urgently required. The Medical- Research Cotmcil has draAvn up a schedule for chemists and manufacturers of drugs suitable Tor production in England. The Row authorities (Royal Botanical Gardens) are issuing instructions to the SCTUads rnd battalions of herb gatherers. The Avhole country has been divided into areas for the reception of the crops for drying and preparation for the laboratories, and County School authorities are giving i one-dav course, of instruction in the proper methods.