HOREHOUND

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 September 1938, Page 3

HOREHOUND

PROPERTIES AS MEDICINAL HERB. Horehound, frequently seen growing on hilltops used by the sheep as camps, and in the vicinity of drafting yards, especially in the South Island, is generally looked upon as a more or less harmless weed. It is a native of Europe, Asia and Africa, and at one time was highly prized as a medicinal herb. An extract from it, marubin, is still occasionally used as a remedy for chronic catarrh. It is said also to have excellent blood-purifying properties, and a beer, made by infusing the leaves- in boiling water, to which sugar, some raisins and yeast are added, makes a most refreshing as well as healthful summer drink, which was highly prized in the old station days in both Australia and New Zealand, where fresh green vegetables were scarce or unprocurable. Where horehound threatens to become a pest through spreading, it can be kept in check by cutting or grubbing in the autumn, or by spraying with one of the many mixtures having arsenic as a base. Where these are used, however, the stock should be kept off the sprayed area until heavy rain has fallen.