THE BUBAL WEW-YOBREB. 
to the production of new grapes, by which he 
secured the famous Concord Grape some 30 
years ago, since which no other modern va¬ 
riety has been so extensively cultivated in our 
northern climes, or so appreciated by the pub. 
lie. Had Mr. Bull done nothing else for the 
benefit of mankind, his name would be held 
in grateful remembrance while the fruit of 
the vine shall cool the parched tongue or its 
juice make glad the heart of man.” 
brighter attractions and greater inducements, 
is common among us. This ought not to be 
so, and the fault is ours, if it is so. If we 
wish our children to stay with us, let us make 
our homes and our business so delightful that 
they cannot leave. How can we do this? 
First, as to the homes: instead of keeping the 
most comfortable and pleasant rooms In 
the house closed for the use of the occasional 
visitor, let the children have them, and make 
them as bright and home like as your means 
will permit, and your homos will bo ten times 
more attractive to the friends who visit you, 
as well as dearer to your families. Spare no 
labor or expense within your means to beau¬ 
tify your surroundings. Provide books, pic¬ 
tures and music, if you can. You can, at 
least, have books, flowers, and sunlight. Our 
children have as pleasant rooms as the house 
contains. We encourage them to carry out 
their own ideas in furnishing them, and the 
pride and attachment they fool for these 
rooms are very gratifying to us, and, l am 
sure, the result is of much good to them. Do 
some of you feel that you cannot afford this 
expense? Try it, and see for yourselves how 
much better it pays than making the boys oc¬ 
cupy the attic with the hired man. Besides, 
if you will give the children a chance; they 
will earn every dollar’s worth of furniture 
for their rooms. Your boys and girls will 
become interested in deoorativo art in a very 
practical way, and it will do them no harm. 
first; but now she is doing so well that she 
requires, and can afford to hire, a man during 
her busy months, and has convinced us all 
that bee keeping is a business that has money 
in it. 
But do you say you cannot afford to allow 
your children so much time for these interests 
of their own? My answer is, that I am satis¬ 
fied my children’s services are worth more 
than double what they would otherwise be, 
on acnouut. of their increased core and interest 
in the work. 1 would not now exchange the 
assistance th it. any one of my boys gives me 
in my business, for the labor of the best man I 
could hire. But we should ho careful not to 
take all of our children's time. Leave plenty 
of room for play, and visiting, and rest. 
Every Summer webuudlo our children off for 
a week’s camping and fishing, and thou they 
come home, and let the father and mother go. 
Take an interest in your children’s sports as 
well as in their work. We ought to be proud 
to have our boys expert swimmers, oarsmen 
and ball players. It is a fact, strange as it 
seems, that city-bred boys usually excel their 
country brothers in athletic sports. Though 
the latter may huve greater strength, they 
lack the nerve and elasticity of muscle of hoys 
whoso supple bodies have never been over¬ 
taxed, and whose spirits have not boon dulled 
by a monotonous round of weary labor. 
Lot your children have plenty of society of 
their own age in their homes. Encourage 
them to invite their friends, and make it 
pleasant for them, when they come. If your 
children go to the city to school, let, them 
EPHRAIM W. BULL, THE ORIGINATOR 
OF THE CONCORD GRAPE. 
BEN. PKRLEY POORE. 
Ephraim "W. Bull (whose portrait we 
give m this issue. Fig. 284) stands forth promi¬ 
nently as the first man who, out of a wild 
New England grape-vine, has, with intelli¬ 
gent care, brought forth a seedling which, 
while he was yet in the prime of life, was 
adopted as one of the hardiest and most pro¬ 
lific of American grapes, and has been suc¬ 
cessfully cultivated iu all parts of the civilized 
world. 
Mr. Bull was born in Washington Street, 
Boston, on March 4, 1806, and raised in a 
homestead which stood in a large garden, 
where he began, at an early age, to study the 
cultivation and hy bridizatiou of grapes and 
flowers. Educated at the public schools, he 
learned the gold beater's trade—to beat out 
the precious metal into sheets of almost im¬ 
perceptible thickness, for use by gilders and 
book-binders. Iu due time, he engaged in the 
business, which he carried on successfully for 
years; but in 1887 he found his health failing, 
and removed to Concord, Massachusetts. 
There he located himself on a farm uonr the 
country residences of Emerson, Abbott and 
Thoreau, and engaged in the culture of the 
grape with the zeal which always attends the 
labors of one who has been raised in a city or 
on shipboard, and who devotes himself, when 
somewhat advanced in life, to rural pursuits, 
Nearly 20 years previously, George Gibbs 
had discovered, as a wild plant, or produced 
as a seedling, a grape which lie had named 
the Isabella, after his wife, and soon after¬ 
ward, Major Adlum, of the District of Co¬ 
lumbia, had cultivated a wild grape found by 
him on the banks of the Potomac, which he 
called the Catawba. Neither of these varie¬ 
ties, however, was sufficiently hardy to sur¬ 
vive the severe vicissitudes of a New Entrlaud 
PRIZE ESSAY. -Class I 
HOW SHALL WE EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN 
AGRICULTURALLY? 
How can we educate our children to best 
appreciate and use the advantages of farm 
life? The impressions a child receives early in 
his life are not easily effaced, and they exert a 
strong influence over his course in later yea rs. 
Without the power to reason and weigh, that 
a more mature age vvill bring, he is readily 
to that of choice foreign fruit. Rigid tests 
showed that it was a distinct variety, and in 
1846 Messrs Hovey & Co., of Boston, put it 
upon the market; some denounced the state¬ 
ments concerning the Concord in Messrs. 
Ilovey & Co.’s circulars as extravagant, but 
the sales that year amounted to $8,200, a large 
sum in those duys, and the next year it was 
sold by almost every nurseryman in the coun¬ 
try, 
Meanwhile Mr. Bull became interested iu 
the newly organizod American party, and in 
1855 he was elected from Concord to the State 
House of Representatives. The following year 
he was elected by the same party to the State 
Senate from Middlesex County. Having been 
prominently connected with the county ag¬ 
ricultural society, he was appointed by Gov. 
Gardner, iu 1856, one of the three members at 
large of the State Board of Agriculture, to 
fill the vacauey caused by the writer of this 
sketch. On the expi ration of the term he was 
successively re-appointed three times, making 
nearly 12 years of continuous service. His 
remarks at different meetings of the Board, as 
reported in the Transactions, were of great 
practical value, especially those on grape cul¬ 
ture. 
Mr. Bull did not weary in well-doing. Year 
after year he planted grape seeds, and from 
the seedlings he obtained many rare and ex¬ 
cellent varieties of grapes, narrowing down 
the selections from 22,000 until there remaiued 
21 which he recommended for cultivation. 
Prominent among these were the Rockwood, 
named after Judge Rockwood E. Hoar, which 
is a finely-flavored black grape two weeks 
earlier than the Concord; and the Esther, a 
prolific white grape, a week earlier than the 
Concord, of which Mr. Bull wrote: “1 have 
long cherished a desire to name the best grape 
I could raise after my dear dead mother, and 
I have called this one by her name because I 
feel that it is as near perfection us I shall ever 
attain.” 
The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Patriarch of 
Pomology, in a recent letter to me, savs that 
often cause their children by their shameful 
neglect of dress and manners among stran¬ 
gers; and I hold that farmers have no right 
to briug discredit upon our business and class, 
by a carelessness of appearance or ungainly 
behavior. If wo do not wish our children to 
feel ashamed to be thought farmers, let us 
show them that farmers appear as well, and 
are as careful in the little matters of etiquette 
that mark the gentleman or lady, us those of 
city manners. If any class of people can 
afford to lie well dressed, both at home and 
when they leave their homes to meet stran¬ 
gers, farmers can. Teach the boy* to tuke 
care of the carriages and harness, and with a 
small outlay of paint, varnish and oil, you 
may have turnouts that will not cause your 
children to blush when they drive to town or 
to church. 
You may wonder that I say so much con¬ 
cerning the little things that touch the sensi¬ 
tive spirits of our children, but they are of no 
small importance in their education. If we 
wisli to raise agriculture in the estimation of 
the young to the place which it is worthy to 
hold among the trades and professions, we 
must not neglect these little matters of ap¬ 
pearance. 
Next, how may wo excite an interest in our 
children for more thorough, scientific farm¬ 
ing? Iu answer, I will tell you of my methods 
and their results:—As soon as the boys were 
able to help mu on the farm, I set apart u little 
plot of ground for each to rnuuage as his own. 
1 advised them as to the best crops to culti¬ 
vate, and called their attention to articles on 
the subject in agricultural papers. I tuught 
them a simple system of hook-keepiug, aud 
urged them to keep an exact, account of all 
expeusos and returns. They were also encour¬ 
aged to make experiments, aud to record the 
results. They found this work very fascinat¬ 
ing, aud wore stimulated by the knowledge 
that the profits were their own. They utouce 
began to take agricultural papers of their 
owu, and started a farmers’ library. Their 
own experience soon taught them that farm¬ 
ing is a science as yet little understood, aud 
that it presents a wide and lucrative field 
EPHRAIM W. BULL 
(From a faded photograph.) Fig. 284 
attracted by whatever presents a bright aud 
showy exterior. His quick, young blood tin¬ 
gles for excitement, and by his very nature he 
demauds those rapid changes of scene und ac¬ 
tion that are so tiresome to older minds. Ho 
to a boy or girl whoso home is in the country, 
the city, with its busy hum, its varied sights, 
its beautiful homes, aud costly equipages, is 
very attractive. They caunot look beneath 
the bright surface anil see the toil and suffer¬ 
ing, und misery and shame that older eyes dis¬ 
cover. But they only notice that people wear 
better clothes there; money seems more 
abundant, and the manners are more easy 
and polished. 
Children are quick to compare, and it is not, 
strange if the difference between the well- 
dressed business man aud the careless, untidy 
farmer, is accepted by them as a powerful ar¬ 
gument in favor of city life aud against farm¬ 
ing. Aud so, year after yuar, wo see the 
steady and increasing stream of young men 
and women from country homes, especially 
those of brightest promise, flowing to the 
more attractive surroundings of the town. 
And the purest aud noblest occupation fol¬ 
lowed by man, the one demanding, and best 
repaying ability, energy and devotion, has 
been largely left to those of inferior abilities, 
little ainbitiou, and slight education. The 
complaint that our children do not like to re¬ 
main upon the farms with us, but are drawn 
to the cities where other occupations offer 
Perhaps there is no stronger desire iu a boy’s 
heart than that of ownership. It gives a 
sense of importance that even we older boys 
have not outgrown; and by these means, so 
delightful to our children, we may teuch 
many of the most important lessons of suc¬ 
cessful husbandry. 
I will refer to my own experience for illus¬ 
tration and proof. This seems to be an age of 
specialties, and, to some extent, I have en¬ 
couraged it in my children. Harry, uiy oldest 
boy, when very young showed a great liking 
for the care of lambs. As soon as he was old 
enough, I gave almost the entire care of the 
sheep into his hands. He was allowed to keep 
a small tlock of his own, giving his father the 
wool in return for their keep, and retaining 
the increase for his share of the profits; He 
lms studied the care and breeding of sheep so 
thoroughly and intelligently, that he is now 
considered quite an authority on the subject, 
and the income from his little flock is greater 
than what most farmers receive from their 
hundreds. My second son, WilL, is my horse¬ 
man. He has owned the bast horse on the 
farm ever since he was six yearsold, when I 
gave him a little motherless colt to raise by 
hand, if he could. The youngest boy, Fred, 
and his sister Mary, manage the poultry for a 
half interest, and you would bo astonished to 
know what their profits are. Anna, my old¬ 
est daughter, has for some years been interested 
iu bees. She did not succeed very well at 
