He will have more difficulty of obtaining credit from others: He will have more difficulty to preferve his ill got acquifitions, than he now poffeffes: He will of courie have much less temptation to put himself into that fitu ation than he now has. If fo, he will guard against the chance of bankruptcy with greater care and if he sees it unavoidable, will take care to flop fooner than he otherwife would have done; as he will thus have a better chance of being able to difcharge his whole debts; without which he will foon find it would be impoffible to enjoy life with any degree of comfort. But if the creditor be benefited, and if the fradulent debtor be put into a worse fituation than he otherwie would have been; furely no perfon could have face to object to these regulations, because they tend to free the honeft, though unfortunate debtor, from the gripe of mercilefs oppreffion; and to put it in his power to earn a fubfiftence to himself and family, by his induftrious exertions, of which at prefent he may be utterly deprived, by the tyrannical difpofition of a defpot. These are the avowed and obvious tendency of the measures propofed; and they are fubmitted to the confideration of the public, in the hopes that their imperfections may be supplied, and their errors corrected, by thofe who are better capable of judging of these things than the writer, whose only claim to merit notice is the uprightness of his intentions. SIR, To the Editor of the Bee.. Queries refpecting the Georgium Sidus. As I have lived in the country fince the year 1781 till very lately, I have heard nothing as yet, refpecting the diftance of the Georgium Sidus from the fun, except from a calculation made by Mr. Lexel, profeffor of aftronomy at St. Petersburgh; who informs us, that a circular orbit, whofe radius is about nineteen times the diftance of the earth from the fun, will agree very well with all the obfervations that have been made during the 1781. As the truth of this calculation depended upon its orbit being circular, which I have heard no confirmation of, and on account of the great nicety required in obferving the figure of fo fmall a portion of that immenfe curve, which the planet has defcribed fince the year 1781, it must be owned, the weight I laid upon this calculation was but small. Some aftronomers are of opinion, that the new planet is the ftar, that is marked No. 964 in Mayer's catalogue. This feems to be confirmed by feveral obfervations that have been made on purpose to find it, in that part of the heavens where it fhould have been, if a fixed ftar, according to the catalogue, but without fuccefs; and that this planet's apparent place in the year: 1756, ought to have been that of Mayer's ftar (on the 15th of September 1756, Mr. Mayer difcovered that ftar.) If this is allowed, profeffor Robinfon thinks that the calculations refpecting it may proceed with eafe. Others are of opinion, that the new planet is the fame with the ftar No. 34. of the Britannic catalogue. As it is a long time fince I have heard any accounts concerning it, I would wish to learn through the channel of your paper, from fome of your ingenious correfpondents, which of the ftars, viz. No. 964 of Mayer's catalogue, or No. 34 of the Britannic aftronomers in general have pitched upon to be the fame with the Georgium Sidus, and how they have determined its distance from the fun, figure of its orbit, &c.? The giving the above a place in a corner in your useful publication will much oblige Your moft obedient humble fervant } I. D. Mr. Bee. To the Editor of the Bee. I HAVE often admired that part of your commonwealth's political wifdom and juftice, the expelling drones from the fociety; work or ftarve is their maxim. I wish mankind, who are the only other animals that have drones amongst them, would follow fo wife an example. We have clerical drones, medical drones, drones of the long robe; nay, I am told we have not a few drones in parliament, though I hope this is not true, as it would be a melancholy thing to have drones make laws for us. But the drones who fall more particularly under your cognizance, are the literary drones; thofe clear-fighted critics who can spy the smallest blemish in the labours of others; who will tell you there is not a new idea in the compofition, and how much better it would have been had it been handled in fuch another manner: but all the while the commonwealth at large is never a whit the better of their own remarks and new ideas. They ought at least be grateful for food to chatter upon: fie upon them, give them a fting, good Mr. Bee; I hope you can fting twice without injuring yourfelf. If this does not produce a reformation in the drones in my neighbourhood, and fet them a working, I will collect their remarks and fend you them; they may not be honey; but you know bits of wax are ufeful to you. I am A Drone-hunter. We think this gentleman will confer a very great benefit on fociety, if he can find any kind of ufeful employment.-Shall be glad to hear he meets with fuccefs. To the Editor of the Bee. Obfervations on the Mangel Würfel or Root of Scarcity. SIR, You have mentioned in the firft number of your useful mifcellany, that the culture of the root of fcarcity, is in general abandoned. That this is the cafe, I will not difpute: it is however, very well worth cultivating, particularly in a cold foil, where other useful pot-herbs would be cut of by the feverity of the weather. This I can vouch, from an experiment I made, the firft or fecond feafon the feeds were introduced into this country. In the month of June, I tranfplanted a row of the young plants on a cold foil, without manure; at the fame time there were fome cabbages and favoys planted along fide of them; no other care was taken of the fcarcity than of the other greens; when the winter ftorms and froft had vented all their rage, the cabbages and favoys were entirely destroyed, while the scarcity root remained almoft unhurt; a few of the outer leaves. were only affected. I gathered some of them, and caused boil them, when brought to table, they were tender, and had a relifh equal to any other greens used at that feafon. From about fixty plants, there were at least three dishes of green leaves gathered weekly, from the end of February to the end of May, that young cabbages fupplied their place; each difh was fufficient to ferve fix people for vegetables: Had it not been for this ufeful plant I fhould have wanted greens,, or paid dear for them at market. The feeds of the Mangel Wurfel produce red and green plants; the latter kind is the beft; they can eafily be diftinguished when in the feed-bed; it is a fpecies of beat beyond doubt. I fhall have occafion afterwards, to make fome remarks on the Swedish turnip. A Friend to Agriculture *. The following extract of a letter on the fame fubject from Dr. Lettfom, is of too much importance not to merit an early notice, as it ftates strong facts respecting this plant, that are, I believe, in a great meafure un known. IN this week I had the favour of a letter from the fecretary of the agriculture fociety of Amfterdam, of which the following is a quotation: "The scarcity root is already known throughout our province; we find no reafon to complain of this difcovery; our foils are very apt to bear them, and particularly the fens and moory grounds, promote the vegetation of this root to a prodigious fize, fo that fome of them weighed 36lb. with the blade. We confider both thefe plants (fcarcity root, and mowing cabbage) as a very beneficial acquifition, for fuch of our countrymen as live upon poor heathy grounds, who are always in need of proper fodder to fuftain their cattle." This letter, with my own experience, evince, how cautious we fhould be of indifcriminate cenfure. If the fcarcity root have not anfwered with certain individuals, it is not a fufficient proof of its inutility, fo various are foils, and fo long does it require, the best mode of cultivating the products of the earth. If I fhould steal leifure, I fhall devote fome obfervations in print to prove these fentiments. London, January 26. 1791. * } J. C. LETTSOM. The obfervations of this correfpondent, or others who ftate any important fact refpe&ting agriculture, will be always acceptable. VOL. I U u |