21 



he supposes them to do is to make the grain germinate better. Smut 

 in the wheat he mentions in another place (1800 ^''°) considering it to 

 be a disease caused by a bad fecundation. During his journey in Eng=: 

 land he had often noticed that hedges of barberry caused damage to 

 the cereals: "as far as the shadow of barberry reaches the wheat is stes: 

 rile" (p. 312), and he says that he has observed the same in Seeland 

 at Baron Lcwenskjold's at Mineslyst, but he supposes it to be poi* 

 sonous vapours given off from barberry either from its roots or its 

 blossoms. 



The practical agriculturists who had a simpler view of things might 

 sometimes have a more correct apprehension of them than the more 

 learned people who were to be their guides. We see for instance that 

 Frantz Wilhelm Troyel, inspector of the royal estate Anneberggaard 

 in Odsherred (b. 1746, d. 1819) in a short article (1791) on Sclerotia 

 (Sclerotinia libertiana) which he had noticed would appear in the 

 receptacle of Helianthus annuus describes them as "plantae parasiticae" 

 comparing them to Sclerotium clavuS; and, moreover, he calls Sclerotia 

 and Ustilago "Fungi". These views were, however, so contrary to the 

 general opinion that P. C. Abildgaard (b. 1740, d. 1801, a skilful 

 veterinarian, founder of the Vet. College and the friend of M. Vahl) 

 as the editor of "Naturhistorieselskabets Skrivter" in which TroySl's 

 article had appeared, thought himself obliged to contradict him and 

 to add a few instructive remarks (1791) in order to warn the readers 

 against the belief that the said Sclerotia should be fungi; he writes 

 that they had better be considered morbid transformations of plants 

 which had happened to grow in too damp a place. 



The first to make phytopatological experiments in Denmark was 

 Caspar Schade (b. Aug. 30. 1754, died April 3. 1828, rector of Mors 

 from 1787 to 1826), famous for his splendid description of the customs 

 and nature in the Isle of Mors (Schade 1811). In this book, page 276, 

 he relates how he has laid out a number of small lots for experiments 

 along a hedge of barberry, and sowed Secale, Triticum, Hordeum and 

 Avena sativa &. orientalis in them; he watched them closely, noting 

 when they appeared, when they were affected by rust, and the severity 

 of the attack on the different cereals (K. H. 04). 



Oluf Christian Olufsen, the editor of "Olufsens oeconomiske 

 Annaler", professor of Political Economy of the University of Copen= 

 hagen, and inspector of the newly=established Classen Agricultural 

 College at Naesgaard (b. at Viborg 1764, d. 1827; biography by Joh. 

 Steenstrup in "Fra Fortid og Nutid" 1892, see also A. la Cour: "Den 

 ^assenske Agerbrugsskole paa Naesgaard 1799—1899", c. icon. Copen* 

 hagen 1899) wrote about the different bushes and trees which ought 

 to be used for fences round the fields, a question that had become 



