Excerpt from John R. Campbell's (former University of Illinois Dean of Agriculture and president of Oklahoma State University)  Reclaiming a Lost Heritage (Iowa State University Press, 1995)

Newspapers' Responses to Turner's Plan

Turner's plan was printed and widely distributed, and it was reprinted in many newspapers, including The New York Tribune, the nation's most widely circulated newspaper at the time. The newspaper's editors responded in their September 4, 1852, issue:

The greatest idea of a higher or thorough education for the sons and
daughters of farmers, mechanics and laborers, is everywhere forcing
itself on the public attention. Our race needs instruction and
discipline to qualify them for working, as well as for thinking and
talking. It may now be ten years since a few poor and inconsiderate
persons began to 'agitate' in favor of a more practical system of
thorough education, whereby youth without distinction of sex should
be trained for eminent usefulness in all the departments of industry. It
is worthy of note that one of the most extensive of the public land
states proposes a magnificent donation of public lands to each of the
states. In furtherance of this idea, Illinois has taken a noble step
forward, in a most liberal and patriotic spirit, for which its members
will be heartily thanked by thousands throughout the Union. We feel
that this step has materially hastened the scientific and practical
education for all who desire and are willing to work for it. It cannot
come too soon.

And the editor of the Southern Cultivator wrote in his Augusta, Georgia, newspaper:

We have been gratified by the perusal of an address delivered by
Professor J. B. Turner of Jacksonville, Illinois, before a convention of
farmers held in that state, in support of the establishment of a
university, in which agriculture and the sciences shall be made a
special branch of study. His suggestions are urged with zeal and
ability, and his arguments are convincing, as to the need and
importance of such institutions. There is no subject more worthy of
the highest effort of the human intellect, nor one which has been,
until recently, so culpably disregarded, if not condemned. The
triumph of a Republic can only be successfully achieved and
permanently enjoyed by a people, the mass of whom, are an
enlightened yeomanry, the proprietors of the land, too independent to
be bought, too enlightened to be cheated, and too powerful to be
crushed. There is not a good agricultural school in the United States.
The truth is, the American people have yet to commence the study of
agriculture as the combination of many sciences. Agriculture is the
most profound and extensive profession that the progress of society
and the accumulation of knowledge have developed. Whether we
consider the solid earth under our feet, the invisible atmosphere
which we breathe, the wonderful growth and decay of all plants and
animals, or the light, the cold, or the electricity of heaven, we
contemplate but the elements of rural science. The careful
investigation of the Laws that govern all ponderable and
imponderable agents, is the first step in the young farmer's education.
This subject is beginning to take a strong hold on the minds of the
people, and we are glad to see gentlemen of the talents and influence
of Professor Turner lending a hand to put the ball in motion which,
ultimately, will sweep down all opposition.