It is not a little remarkable that the three most common plants in this country, whins or furze, broom, and heath, are scarcely to be found in the Rofsian dominions. A gentleman who lived several years in that empire, and travelled many thousand miles in it, from St Petersburgh to the southern confines, afsured me, that these three plants are so rare, that he does not recollect ever to have observed a single stalk of one of them during the whole of his travels in that empire. This is to me, a striking proof of the great severity of the climate in winter there, even in the lower latitudes; for we know that even in this country, neither whins nor broom are very hardy plants; the first in particular being apt to have its young fhoots killed down almost every winter, where it has grown with luxuriance on a fertile soil. The broom also is often, though seldomer, nipped by the severity of the spring frosts. But in Rufsia, where even the hawthorn and beech, we are told by an observing correspondent, (Bee, vol. xii. p. 255.) are hot-house plants, these two plants cannot survive at all. As to heath, I have observed no instance of its being killed by cold in this climate; so that I fhould suspect its scarcity in Rufsia, ought rather to be attributed to the nature of the soil than the temperature, We have a striking proof of the absurdity of reasoning, as to the hardinefs of plants, a priori, or of relying in this case on any thing else than well authenticated facts, by observing the great difference in the effect of cold on the gooseberry and currant plants. Here, we perceive no difference; we deem them e qually hardy, and I suppose many persons would be inclined to think the gooseberry the most hardy of the two but in Russia they perceive that there is a most striking difference; for though the gooseberry, unless carefully protected from the cold, would be every winter killed there, yet the currant is so hardy, the black currant in particular, that it is never observed to lose the smallest point of a twig, though left entirely unprotected in the most exposed situation during winter. The currant is reported to have been first introduced into Britain from the island of Zant in the Levant, so that we should expect it would be rather tender of cold. This, and many other facts. prove, that we fhould always try the hardiness of plants by actual exposure, from whatever country they come, before we conclude that they necefsarily must be tender. It is not impofsible but that some plants which have been originally brought from the torrid zone, may be so hardy as to resist the utmost rigours of a Siberian cli mate. ON SOME STRIKING INACCURACIES IN THE CORN RETURNS. To Mr John James Calderwood, receiver of corn returns, London. SIR, THE office of correcting errors is in general so disagreeable, that few are willing to underaake the task. Dec. 4. This is particularly observable where the errors affect the public in general, and where of course, every one may think it is as much the business of thousands of others as of himself, to come forward as a public accuser. These considerations, operating. no doubt on others as well as myself, have so lung delayed any public notice having been taken of the abuses I mean to bring under your view in this let ter. On the first publication of your weekly returns of the prices of corn, I remarked with astonishment some glaring absurdities in it but these were so striking and obvious to every person who bestowed the smallest attention to them, that I could neither believe that you, Sir, would overlook them, nor that others fhould have been long silent with regard to them; so that I had no doubt they would have been corrected long ere this time; I therefore waited with patience in daily expectation of seeing this done. As no symptoms, however, indicate that any thing of that sort is as yet in contemplation, I have at last resolved to addrefs you on the subject; and to lay the correspondence before the public. My observations fhall be here confined chiefly to the prices of oats and oat-meal, an object of very great importance to this, and many other parts of the kingdom. When the law which created your office was under discussion in the House of Commons, much anxiety was discovered to fix the rate which should regulate the importation and exportation of these articles; and the variation of even a few pence on these rates, would have been then considered as ruins 157 ous to the country in the extreme; but since that time, though under your auspices, the prices have been varied, not a few pence, but even several pounds, beyond the real truth, so as to affect without a cause, the trade of this country in a very material degree, the legislature, the public, and your elf, as if all seized with an incurable apathy, have allowed these things to be done without a single note of censure or of disapprobation. To satisfy you, Sir, and the public, that what I have said above is literally trus, nothing more is necefsary than to bring under your view, the following prices as stated in your "Average prices of corn” published on the 20th of July 1793. Any other of these returns that have been published would have exhibited nearly the same appearances. It is to be observed the prices are said to be invariably, for the oats, per quarter, of eight Winchester bufhels, and the oat-meal per boll, consisting of 140 lbs. averdu. pois, or 128 lbs. Scots troy, which by your law are declared to be the same; and they are in fact so near ly equal as to prevent any material error fron originating in this source. The errors in the above table, from mere inspection only, are sufficiently apparent. Every person who travels the road, knows that the quality of corn for horses is not materially different, in different parts of the country; and that though they may weigh a little more in one place than in another, and of course may yield a small matter more or lefs of oat-meal, yet that difference can bear no sort of proportion to the variations indicated in the above table. For example, oats in Rofs are 27 s. 2d. and oat meal 9'4 s. 11d; that is to say 3 quarters and a half of oats nearly, are required to make one boll of meal; while at Alnwick, oats are 27 s. 8d. and oat-meal 15 s. 4d; so that one quarter of these oats give more than a boll and a half of meal: at this rate the oats of Aìnwick are nearly six times as good as at yet these oats sell nearly at the same price. It is unnecefsary to enlarge on other obvious discrepancies in this table. : Ross, and I have sometimes been amused by putting myself in the place of a stranger who was desirous of obtaining authentic information respecting the internal economy of this country, who had got pofsefsion of some of your weekly returns. "What a treasure I have now got, would he say to himself; I have been busying myself for years to fall upon some plan for getting a true idea of the state of agriculture and internal economy of Britain, but in vain. Every mean of information I thought to obtain, proved fallacious in one way or other, but now I have fortunately found one that cannot The prices are now ascertained in the most ac |