On October 15, 1867 Richard Schroeder, the famous agronomist and founder of agricultural science in Uzbekistan, was born. He devoted 42 years of his life to the development of agriculture in Central Asia and for the same number of years headed the first Central Asian Research Institute for Horticulture, Viticulture and Winemaking (in the name of Mahmud Mirzaev). The scientist collected and tested more than 1000 samples of local wheat varieties grown in Central Asia, identifying the most productive of them. Hundreds of varieties of apples, pears, grapes and other fruits were tested at the station. Cotton material obtained by Schroeder in the early 1920s made possible to develop an early variety of cotton, named "Schroeder" after the author.