a substance that is toxic to certain plants, it was concluded by circumstantial evidence alone that the wilting possibly was due to black walnut toxicity or antagonism of some sort. In August of 1942, studies were made on wilted and stunted cabbage plants growing in a semicircle on one side of a field adjacent to a walnut tree (Fig. 1). The field was located near Hall, New York, in a region known to be infested with cabbage yellows. From a distance, the affected plants appeared to have yellows, but upon close study, it was found that they were merely wilted and stunted and did not show the other typical symptoms of the yellows disease. The root systems of wilted plants did not show the presence of club root or black rot infection. The plants in the field were all of one variety and came from the same seed bed. Microscopic studies and attempts to culture a fungus from the vascular bundles of affected plants showed the absence of any fungus that might have caused, the disease. Since the affected plants showed no symptoms of known cabbage diseases and as they were growing in a semicircle adjacent to a walnut tree, it was concluded that the presence of the root system of this tree might have been the cause of the trouble. [Illustration: Fig. 1. Wilted and stunted cabbage plants growing in a semicircle adjacent to a black walnut tree. Note large, healthy plants in foreground, side and background about a semicircle of smaller, wilted plants, growing in an area affected by the root system of the black walnut tree.] These two instances of wilting and stunting of plants in the vicinity of walnut trees give further circumstantial evidence that the trouble might have been caused by the toxicity or antagonism of black walnut roots. Detailed experiments with the plants in question would have to be run to prove this assumption. Preliminary Studies on Catkin Forcing and Pollen Storage of Corylus and Juglans L. G. COX, _Cornell University_ Methods of collecting and storing pollen are of great interest to those engaged in plant breeding. Very little reliable information is available for the various nut species compared with many other horticultural plants. The following preliminary experiments were conducted to obtain data on germination media, forcing methods, and storage conditions for Corylus and Juglans Sieboldiana pollen. The former was mostly from hybrid plants produced by crossing the Rush filbert (Corylus americana) with European varieties. _The optimum temperature and sugar concentration for germination of Corylus pollen._ The cut ends of Corylus branches with mature catkins collected March 1, 1942 were immersed in water and forced into shedding pollen in a room at a temperature of approximately 20 deg. centigrade. The collected pollen was sifted upon the surface of a thin layer of sugar-agar in petri dishes.