The Origin of Extension Work—A Timeline
1862

The first Morrill Act, in 1862 (the second would come in 1890), granted each state 30,000 acres of federal land for every senator and representative. Each state was to sell the land and invest in the proceeds in an endowment, the interest to be used to establish

….at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts…in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life. [Eddy 1957, p.31]

It was also during 1862 that the Organic Act was passed by Congress creating the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new organization operated as a division of the Patents Office and functioned primarily as an office of communication. Annual reports including research were published and distributed to farmers. In 1889 the Department began publishing Farmers Bulletins, which were later reformatted and became the Yearbook of Agriculture.