134 THE PLANT WORLD 



each observation, as windy, cool, still, warm, etc. Watch for visiting 

 insects ; see if each kind visits, with any degree of persistence, different 

 flowers. Observe carefully if the insects act definitely and efficiently in 

 transferring the pollen. In order to get identification, catch the insects 

 which you see visiting the flowers, and forward to this department. 

 Postage will be refunded. 



THE HAIR CAP MOSS. 



Observations made in northern Vermont of two common species of 

 the Hair Cap Moss — Poly trie /mm commune and P. jiuiiperinum — ' ' indicate 

 that for these two species the escape of the sperm cells and the maturing 

 of the archegonium for their reception occurs in April, and that the 

 maturing of the spores within the sporophyte takes place one year from 

 the following August. The early stages of the development of the spor- 

 ophyte progresses rather slowly. Later, in July and August, growth 

 seems rapid ; then again in the fall, growth is slower. Let those who 

 wish to get motile sperms search in April for male rosettes in which the 

 white tips of the antheridia may be seen just peeping out from between 

 the scales of the rosette, if one looks carefully with a good glass. Let 

 such plants dry slightly, then by wetting them for mounting they will 

 show the discharge of the sperm mother cells." * 



THE OHIO MYCOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Our readers, and all others who are interested in nature, or, more es- 

 pecially, in fungi, may become members of The Ohio Mycological Club 

 with no further formality than that of sending ten cents to Professor W. 

 A. Kellerman, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. In return they 

 will receive the Mycological Bulletins, which we can say without reserve 

 will be very useful to teachers and pupils. The beautiful half-tone illus- 

 trations alone more than justify the less than trifling expenditure. Let 

 every one interested join at once and both help and share in the good 

 work done by Professor Kellerman. 



Corn smut has long been a serious scourge, and before its nature 

 was understood no particular effort was made to combat it. In the last 

 twenty years a conservative estimate of the damage done by this disease 

 would aggregate $40,000,000 to $50,000,000. In all probability the loss 

 would have been $10,000,000 more in the last eight or ten years but for 

 the systematic educational work done by the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture and by the State Experiment Stations. Estimating the expense 

 for the year 1903 by the United States for the support of its Department 



* " The Fruiting Season of the Hair Cap Moss," Phebe M. Towle and Anna E. Gilbert. The Bryol- 

 ogist, March, 1904. 



