The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1915. A WASTING NATURAL PRODUCT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 319, 21 October 1915, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1915. A WASTING NATURAL PRODUCT.

(With which is incorporated The Tai hape Post and Waimarino News.)

A moss that grows rather plentifully in many parts of 'New Zealand, aswol' a«- in Britain and most European an.i countries, known as bog moss, ha s been brought very much into use during the war as a dressing for thi.« iiost severe wounds. It has h'j'V. for such purposes in continental countries for many years past, where i-' h;..5 a fair market value. In Ens'ind it is used largely for mulching trees and plants, and in later years as a medium for growing orchids in. In some parts of Ireland, it is used as bedding, and very excellent beds it makes as it does not decay with any putrescent characteristics. In New Zealand the bog moss grows freely and in sufficient quantities to be gathered and used for surgical purposes. Lake Ellesmere, years ago, was luxuriant with beautiful pale green beds of bog moss, or sphagnum moss, as it is usually termed; it grows freely along the West Coast of the North Island, and probably right across the island, for the writer has s*en large beds of it in Levin and at Rotorua, it being very plentiful in some parts in the neighbourhood of the latter place. W T hile ton s of this moss is being wasted in Britain it is imported from Germany for surgical use. It requires very little preparation; it does not grow in earth, but usually in clean shallow water — never in stagnant or dirty water. It is easily gathered, being mostly raked out quite clean with wood rakes, and it requires nothing more than drying and sterilising to make it ready for application to the most dreadful wounds. The war has done much to impress upon us the natural advantages we jxave hitherto neglected to notice, preferring rather to buy our requirements from Germany and perhaps other nations. Sphagnum cymbifolium is permeated with minute tubes which in its natural state hold water eight or nine times the weight of the plant, so that when it is dry it is one of the most absorbent materials known It is antiputrescent, very soft, light, and cool, and as very little preparation is necessary before use if it is carefully gathered—for it has only to be sterilised and placed in flannel bags—it is a very economical dressing. For some time it ha«- been used in British hospitals, and before the war was supplied from Germany. This is yet another of the Old Country's neglected industrial opportunities, for there is an unlimited amount growing on the English fells and mcors. In German towns it is a f Common sight to see country women I with big baskets of herbs and plants j going into chemists' shops to sell or

exchange, their goods. Such a sight is unknown in England, and it is evident from a pamphlet lately circulated by the Board of Agriculture that Germany has been supplying raw material in the way of plants and herbs fcr most of the British drugs.