COLLECTION OF ERGOT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 November 1941, Page 3

COLLECTION OF ERGOT

— NATIONAL DRIVE. BEING CARRIED OUT IN DOMINION. An intensive national drive is being made for the collection of ergot, from which is extracted valuable drugs used for medicinal purposes. A substantial part of Great Britain’s normal supplies nave been cut off by the war, and New Zealand is practically the only alternative source of supply of any consequence. Ergot is a diseased transformation of the seed of grasses, but the collection in New Zealand will be restricted to two varieties of grass, tall fescue and marram grass. The collection of ergot in the Dominion is being sponsored by the Department of Agriculture with the co-operation of a number of organisations, whose members are taking up the work with enthusiasm. At the meeting to inaugurate the campaign the following bodies were represented: The Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union, Women’s Institutes, Girl Guides, Farmers’ Union, Young Farmers Clubs’ Federation, Grain and Seed Merchants’ Association, Boy Scouts’ Association, and the Departments of Agriculture, Scientific and Industrial Research, and Education. In a discussion it was pointed out that the best months to collect ergot were December and January. It was urged that any person who has the facilities to collect ergot should take part in this work.