The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-12
TO CURE A DONKEY'S BRAY
Rays Scheme to Restore Peace
In Lancaster Knoll.
AN AGRICULTURAL STUDY
He Discovers Way to Circumvent Pro-
testing Neighbors, and Thus Keep
aDonkey for His Children-Lit-
erary Work Reveals 1t.

Ten days before the regular monthly
meeting in January of the Lancaster
Knoll Temperance and Debating So
ciety each member will receive notice
somewhat as follows:
Whereas, Our beautiful village has
thrived until corner lots are now worth
SIS a front foot, despite the fact that
Long Island City is the gateway for
our commuters; and
Whereas, Our growth has not been
due to ephemeral booming, but to the
honest belief on the part of homeseek-
ers that Lancaster Knobs environ
ments are the best on Long Island; and
recognizing, as we do, the value of our
villages good name; therefore
Resolved, That the announced in
tention of our literary fellow townsman.
Jacob Rays, to purchase for the enter
tainment of his children a donkey,
which in it's hours of leisure shall be
confined in the Rays barn, be and here
by is discouraged for the good of Lam
caster Knoll"
Lancaster Knoll has it's proper place
and under a different name, which
sounds no better, and for the sake of
accuracy it may be said also that the
books and short stories written by the
only literary citizen of the Knoll do
not bear the name Jacob Rays, but In
other respects no qualifications OF the
debating societys notices need be
made. Mr.. Rays is theoretically
L.; tod Io ic nf O
earth earthly in an agricultural sense,
but circumstances over which he had
little control cast him for literary
part 1t has been necessary for MIN
to spend every week day for many
years in New York. and as recon-
pense for this hardship he bought
lot and built a house at Lancaster
Knoll several years before the trolley
reached town.
"Now. by gracious" he said to his
friends, It'll be something of a farmer
anyway, for / love to see things grow.
and If it were not for that important
question of ways and means, I would
move to some vast wilderness and new
er go near city The more / see of
men the better opinion have, of veg
stables, beets and potatoes and things
like that"
Ever tried to raise them?" asked one
of his friends.
mot exactly" replied Mr.. Rays, "but
have thought it out very carefully,
and l have seen them grow in my mind,
| and, by gracious. it was exhilarating.
| BY way of explanation of the donkey
| it may be said that each season, since
Mr.. Rays became Knollite, taught
| him it's own sad agricultural lesson
| Potatoes came first, because Mr., Rays
said that anybody could grow them
and that the potato blossom. in it's
season added more local color to a
| country house than many roses. Dur
| ing the planting season Mr.. Rays liter
| airy output fell off in quality and guam
tity.
Just you wait until my potato vines
stick their little green noses above
| ground and will have inspiration for
lots of work. he said. The oldest far
mer in Lancaster Knoll asserted on the
| authority of his almanac that this was
| the dampest season in 40 years and Mr..
Rays potatoes rotted in the ground.
| They persisted miserably the next year
because of a big worm that worked
| under cover and undermined them until
the vines wilted. 1t wasn't an ordinary
| potato bug, but it was worm which
| dug down into the ground, and while
| Mr. Rays neighhors sympathized with
| him, they rejoiced that this worm did
| not get into their potato patches. AT
| the end of the second season Mr.. Ray
| said:
My soil is not right for potatoes and
| next year I am going to try corn. Is
| there anything in nature more beauti-
| full in its shades of green than young
| corn? If there is, I don't know it."
| Mr.. Rays corn shot up into the air in
| due season and the prospect for large
| crop was so good that Mr.. Rays bought
| a lot of cans in which to stow away the
| surplus corn for the winter. The total
| output of that corn crop, however, was
one small ear, and Mr.. Rays asserted
| that the other ears had been eaten by
a corn worm. He tried sweet peas anG
beets the next summer with no better
results, and SO it has gone from sum
mer to summer Houses have beer
erected near Mr.. Rays and his property
has increased in value but these thing!
have not brought complete happiness.
1T is the most curious thing, by gra
cious," he remarked last fall, tina
there is worm or bug for every veg
etable that I can raise in my garden
and what I want to know is, where d.
they keep themselves when I haven
planted their favorte crop. You can
fool them. I've tried it and I know
Three years ago l planted potatoes
again, thinking that the worms which
destroyed my first crop must hav'
grown tired waiting for another ant
taken themselves to some other garden
AS soon as the potatoes began to sprou
along came the worms again. Just 81
with the corn and the peas. AS sool
as they are planted along comes TIT
special worm or bug which kills them
Now what do these worms do on of
years? When I look at that little patel
of garden and realize how many de
structive forces it contains, it make
me marvel. I like to see things grow
and if I can't grow vegetables I grow
animals. l think / will get a youni
horse for my children, and it will b
interesting to see it grow up"
The word was passed around tn
Knoll that Jacob Rays wanted youn
horse for his children, and a deale
called on him.
"How young a horse do you want
Mr. Hays?" he asked.
Let me have a little fellow about a
large, say, as a Newfoundland dog. M
children can drive him in a cart an
as he grows bigger and bigger we ca
| get bigger and bo