|
thus, Ireland suffered a devastating potato famine due to a fungus that caused late blight of potatoes in the 19th century |
|
therefore, it was commonly believed that most of the plant diseases and the fungi arose spontaneously from decay |
|
nevertheless, the ability to combat plant diseases through pest control made it possible to yield greatly |
|
on the other side, during the Middle Ages in Europe, Shakespeare mentioned wheat mildew in one of his plays |
|
however, it was not until the invention of the first microscope that people began to understand the real causes of these diseases |