Chronological history by decade from
the creation of USDA in 1862 until 2000

Blue=USDA research accomplishment

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Potatoes are one of the world's top-four staple crops.

1870s

1870
Of gainfully employed persons, 47.4 percent were engaged in agriculture. This was the first time that farmers were a minority.

Foot-and-mouth disease first reported in the U.S. (more)

Developed a middling purifier with a roller process for grinding to produce superior flour.

First systematized, synchronous meteorological report ever taken in the U.S. was read and transmitted by telegraph.

1871
Illinois Warehouse Act regulated grain elevators.

Patent for cotton stripper granted.

1872
Burbank potato produced, followed by many improved vegetables, fruits, and flowers.

1873
Grasshoppers became a serious pest in the West.

The Washington navel orange introduced into California with trees secured from Brazil by USDA. (more)

Aberdeen-Angus bulls imported from Scotland.

1874
Mennonites make first important introductions of wheat from Turkey into Kansas.

Pressure cooker invented; patents first granted in 1902, but not in general use until 1935.

Glidden barbed-wire patent granted.

Manufacture of oleomargarine began in the U.S.

Durra sorghum, known as Egyptian corn, introduced into California from Egypt. (more)

Mechanical refrigeration invented.

1875
First state agricultural experiment station established at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.

First commercial feed mill established.

1876
Telephone patented by Alexander Graham Bell.

Germ theory of disease verified.

Charles Darwin wrote the first complete analysis and description of hybrid vigor called Cross- and Self-Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom.

1877
Desert Land Act encouraged development of irrigation in arid lands; offered land at 25 cents per acre if irrigated and cultivated for 3 years.

United States Entomological Commission established to study grasshoppers.

British traders sent seed of the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) from Brazil to Malaya; began Asian dominance of rubber market.

1878
Milking machine invented.

Sugar beets cultivated successfully in Maine under a system of vertical integration.

An all-roller mill constructed in Philadelphia led the way to more efficient, cheaper, and cleaner milling.

1879
First successful beet sugar factory in the U.S. built in California.

Formalized veterinary education began at Iowa State College, making it the oldest state veterinary college.