Mr. John Todd has several thousand acres in his plantation and four thousand acres are in sugar cane. When it came to the dessert a beautiful two-storied white cake was placed on the table. After eating it I turned to Mrs. Todd and said, "I dislike very much to comment on a lady's cooking but I hope you will excuse me if I ask you what this cake is made of. There is something peculiar about it that I do not recognize." "Well," she said, "while you and the other gentlemen were down inspecting the land that you came to see, I had the boys go out and rattle down some pecans. They cracked them, picked out the meats, and I put them in the oven and dried them. I knew that they would not dry out ordinarily in time for my meal. I then ran them through the meat chopper and chopped them as fine as I could and then I put them through a very fine sieve. The parts that were fine enough to go through I put in the flour of the cake, the rest I put in the filler between the two layers of cake and in the frosting." It was one of the most delicious cakes I ever tasted in my life. With that recipe you can make a white cake in about three minutes, fill your flour and your frosting with pecans and you certainly will have a feast for the gods.
DOCTOR MORRIS: Mr. President, the committee on resolutions has referred matters to the secretary for action.
THE SECRETARY: It was the duty of the committee on resolutions to prepare the resolutions on the deaths of Doctor Van Fleet and Colonel Sober, copies of which are to be sent to their families. The committee not having had time to meet that task has been assigned to the secretary, who will be very glad to carry it out to the best of his ability.
The other and more important task of that committee was to take action on the suggestions made by the president in his paper in regard to increasing the membership of the association. As it has been impossible to take such action in the committee I propose that we now take up consideration of that matter as a committee of the whole.
I would like at least to say that Mr. Jones has offered to the association five hundred nut trees to be given as premiums with new memberships. I think Mr. Jones said that they included Stabler walnut trees, Chinese walnuts, and what others, Mr. Jones?
MR. JONES: Chinese English walnuts, or Chinese Persian walnuts, Mayette & Franquette English walnuts and Stabler black walnut seedlings. I have an idea the Chinese walnuts would be the most attractive.
THE SECRETARY: They would all be seedling trees, of course?
MR. JONES: Yes; they would all be seedling trees. We would put them up and mail them out.
THE SECRETARY: Think of what an extraordinary, generous offer that is on the part of Mr. Jones, to contract to send out five hundred nut trees to as many new members, dig and pack and send them out!
MR. JONES: Well, growing the trees doesn't cost very much. Of course packing the single trees will cost more than the trees but we are glad to do that if it will help out.