Wisconsin History Day By Day

Related Web Sites:

Food & Farming

Wheat once 'king' of regions crops

Read More About It

"Great-Grandma Tells of Threshing Day" by Verda Cross

"Wheat" by Elaine Landan

"A History of Agriculture in Wisconsin" by Joseph Schafer

Vocabulary:

flowering

decade

convert

frontier

bushels

Interesting Fact:

The farmer in the 1850's would plant the wheat by scattering the seeds by hand as he walked the fields.

Study Questions:

When did wheat decline in Wisconsin? What were the reasons for this?

What were the peak years for wheat production in Wisconsin? How many bushels were produced during the peak years?

How much wheat does Wisconsin produce today?

U.S. historical events that occurred on August 22:

1902: Teddy Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to ride in an automobile.

August 22

Historical Highlight
1850s: Wheat farming reached its full flowering during the decade of the 1850s, helping to convert Wisconsin from a frontier state to an agricultural one. In 1849, Wisconsin produced 4 million bushels of wheat, compared to 27 million in 1860.

Wisconsin History Day By Day homepage January - December calendar page

Historical Highlight 1850s: Wheat farming reached its full flowering during the decade of the 1850s, helping to convert Wisconsin from a frontier state to an agricultural one. In 1849, Wisconsin produced 4 million bushels of wheat, compared to 27 million in 1860.

Historical Highlight
1850s: Wheat farming reached its full flowering during the decade of the 1850s, helping to convert Wisconsin from a frontier state to an agricultural one. In 1849, Wisconsin produced 4 million bushels of wheat, compared to 27 million in 1860.