BRITAIN NEEDS ERGOT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 4, 16 January 1942, Page 5

BRITAIN NEEDS ERGOT

FURTHERING THE APPEAL

HOW WE CAN HELP

From now 011 all can help a most worthy war effort in collecting ergot from the tall fescue plants that are plentiful in Avaste places round this district. Ergot is a fungus disease of grasses that attacks the seed and replaces it with a black elongated growth which is white inside. There is much tall fescue to be found in and about Whakatane and throughout the Whakatane river valley and flats while limited areas arc found about the Rangitaiki and Tarawera river flats, Thornton Rod and, Awakeri. From the ergot there is extracted a drug that is of infinite' value in maternity and in treatment of wounds. Before the war supplies were obtained by British and American manufacturing chemists from Central Europe, Hungary, Rumania, Spain and Russia where 1 they were

collected. Now a great scarcity has arisen just when the need is greatest for the treatment of wounded soldiers and air raid victims. The Imperial Government lias asked New Zealand for all available supplies for urgent requirements, so here lies an opportunity toi help in the' war effort. Ergot can be harvested by cutting the tall fescue heads with a sharp knife or sickle or by hand stripping, [f cut, the heads should be well dried by standing on end in a sunny position against a house or shed or spread out on canvas or bags. When thoroughly dry the ergot is threshed by tapping the heads sharply against a piece of wood so that the ergot falls out with a minimum of seed. The hand stripped ergot should he laid out oai sheets of iron or other material to dry. The next operation is to separate the ergot from the seed and foreign material. This can be done by Avinnowing or letting the material fall in a draught of wind in the open. Bags should be placed on the ground to. catch, the ergot which being heavier falls closer, while the lighter material, seed, straw, etc. will float further away. This may have to be done; several times to get a reasonably clean sample. Gleaning may also be done by throwing the material in a pail of water. The heavier and better class ergot will immediately sink and by judicious stirring the remainder of the ergot will, be induced to fall, leaving the straw, seed, etc. floating on top of the water. The floating material can be poured oft' leaving behind the ergot .in the bottom of the pail. This should then be thoroughly dried immediately in the sun. The ergot should then be put in containers such as tobacco tins and taken to the produce merchant who will purchase it on the following basis: —- Grade 1. 100 per cent clean dry whole ergot 8/- per lb or 6d per oz. Grade 2. Not less than 80 per cent clean dry whole ergot and not more than 20 per cent clean dry broken ergot; no foreign material, 6/8 per lb or 5d per oz. Grade 3. Not less than 70 per cent clean dry whole ergot and not more than 30 per cent straw, seed, for-i cign material and broken ergot, 5/4 per lb or 4d per oz. Grade 4. Not less than 50 per cent clean, dry, whole ergot and not more than 50 per cent straw, seed, foreign material and broken ergot, I/- per lb or 3d per oz. Good advice to collectors is to aim for an ounce at a time. It is tlie many ounce lots that give the greatest success and not the few pound lots. As an aid to collectors, tall fescue is a tall upright plant with coarse leaves, Hie edges of Avliich are liable to cut the tongue if drawn across it. The base of the stem next to the root and close to and slightly below the ground has a red colouration. An interesting exhibit by the Department -of Agriculture is to be seen in the window of the N.Z. Loan and Mercantile building in the Strand, Whakatane.