48 HISTORY OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY 



of a crown domain) of the large estate of Gross-Krausche 

 by Bunzlau in Silesia, remaining eight years. Here he 

 began in earnest his agricultural investigations. In- 

 fluenced by the writings of Liebig, he tested out the value 

 of commerical fertilizers on a large scale. He tried out 

 and introduced the drilling of grain and made extensive 

 use of tile drainage. Through his activities along these 

 lines he became known to his colleagues as the micro- 

 scope farmer. 



For us, however, his work on the diseases of his crops on 

 this estate is of most interest. Here he not only gathered 

 his. fundamental training along these lines, but laid by 

 extensive and exact experiments the foundation for his 

 book on plant diseases to appear a few years later. His 

 interest in plant diseases appears to have begun with some 

 studies on Sporodesmium exitosum, the cause of a serious 

 disease of rape. He studied and named the pathogene. 

 His work attracted the attention of such men as Ferdi- 

 nand Cohn, Goppert, and Rabenhorst. These years of 

 practical study and experiment aroused in Kiihn the 

 desire for further training at some agricultural academy 

 or some university. 



The Agricultural Academy at Poppelsdorf loosely 

 associated with the University of Bonn was at that time 

 the most noted in Germany. Thither the young Amt- 

 mann turned his steps at the age of thirty in the autumn 

 of 1855. Unfortunately, the teachers at Poppelsdorf had 

 little new to offer this well-read and experienced farm 

 manager, but in the University he had the chance to com- 

 plete and round out his scientific training in the two 

 semesters that he spent there. It was here at Bonn 

 also that he conceived the idea that agricultural educa- 



