If $n$ and $m$ are positive integers, necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of a finite commutative ring $R$ with exactly $n$ elements and exactly $m$ prime ideals. Next, assuming the Axiom of Choice, it is proved that if $R$ is a commutative ring and $T$ is a commutative $R$-algebra which is generated by a set $I$, then each chain of prime ideals of $T$ lying over the same prime ideal of $R$ has at most $2^{|I|}$ elements. A polynomial ring example shows that the preceding result is best-possible.

Let $R$ be a one-dimensional locally analytically irreducible Noetherian domain with finite residue fields. In this note it is shown that if $I$ is a finitely generated ideal of the ring $\Int(R)$ of integer-valued polynomials such that for each $x \in R$ the ideal $I(x) =\{f(x) \mid f \in I\}$ is strongly $n$-generated, $n \geq 2$, then $I$ is $n$-generated, and some variations of this result.