Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - History of the University (Powell) [PAGE 403]

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Letter Turner to Blanchard

361

for you must find a mail for such a place whose natural love of experimenting and observing would impell him to it wherever he was and at whatever cost—no other man would be likely to accomplish anything anyhow. 1. This being the fact then—he would soon have at his entire command all the most valuable laborsaving machines in the county on deposit—as working models. 2. He would have or might have the finest breed stock in all the County. 3. He would have the finest fruit after a little, and fruit trees for sale—and his connexion with the farming community would be such that if he managed as he ought to do he would widely secure their affection and confidence and this would secure him wide sales. Now if a man could not manage to live on such resources he ought to starve especially if his children were where they could receive their instruction gratuitously. In short so far as living is concerned I should not be at all afraid to hire money at 6 per cent, buy land right around me here and open such an establishment in connection with the institution at once, on my own responsibility—were there not some things about this establishment which I do not like—for such a purpose. This is one mode of support—Let all be the personal property of the professor—and when he dies or retires let the next professor buy it or let others buy it for him if he pleases—or if not let him buy and build another for himself—for it matters not if there are ten thousand such model farms made around every college in the land—it would only be all so much the better. But on the other hand if you undertake to buy and build everything for your professor and be at the expense of all the experiments he may see fit to try it will take a great deal of money for an outfit—and it will add a heavy annual drain for costs support etc—which will impell someone to beg beg beg The conviction that one must have some such establishment in this state is growing in the public mind—The advantages of having it near a college where the branches and especially chemistry and Botany are annually taught are quite obvious.

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