GENERAL NOTES. t6q 



Lomaria, Willd. 



L. vulcanica, Blurne. I cannot separate specifically L. paucy'uga, 

 Colenso, in Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1888, p. 222. 



L. lanceolata, Spreng. I cannot separate specifically L. aggregate, 

 Colenso, in Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1888, p. 223; Field, Ferns 

 N.Z., p. 103, tab. 29, fig. 7. 



L. parvifolia, Colenso, in Trans. N.Z. Inst. 1888, p. 224. Exactly 

 matches our type specimen of L. pumila, Raoul, which can 

 scai'cely be regarded as more than a variety of L. alpina. See 

 Field, Ferns N.Z., p. 106. 



L. membranaoea, Colenso. I cannot separate specifically L. oligo- 

 neuron, Colenso, in Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1883, p. 346. 



DoODlA, Pv. Br. 



D. caudata, R. Br. I cannot separate specifically D. squarrosa, 

 Colenso, in Trans. N.Z. Inst,, 1880, p. 332. 



(To be continued.) 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Removing Tassels from Corn. — Experiments with strawberries 

 made at the Ohio Experiment Station indicate that pollen-bearing is 

 an exhaustive process, and that larger yields of fruit, as a rule, may 

 be expected from those varieties which produce pollen so sparingly 

 that a small proportion of other varieties producing pollen abundantly 

 must be planted with them in order to insure a full crop, than from 

 those which produce sufficient pollen for self-fertilization. 



The following very interesting and valuable experiment on corn, 

 made by the experiment station of Cornell University, at Ithaca, N.Y., 

 gives strong support to this theory. 



It has been claimed that if the tassels were removed from corn 

 before they have produced pollen, the strength thus saved to the 

 plant would be turned to the ovaries, and a larger amount of grain be 

 produced. To test the effect of this theory, the following trial was 

 made during the past season. 



In the general cornfield a plot of forty- eight rows, Avith forty-two 

 hills in each row, was selected for the experiment. From each alter- 

 nate row the tassels were removed as soon as they appeared, and 

 before any pollen had fallen. The remaining rows were left undis- 

 turbed. The corn was Sibley's Pride of the North, planted the last 

 week in May in hills three feet six inches by three feet eight inches, 

 on dry, gravelly, moderately fertile soil. 



On July 21 the earliest tassels began to make their appearance 

 in the folds of the upper leaves, and were removed as soon as they 



