AN ENCYCLOPZDIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 271 
Rain—continued. 
that drawn from springs, or from underground pipes, of 
usually being at the temperature of the air, and of con- 
taining in it the oxygen, and other substances, men- 
tioned above. Its use is of course similar, in its 
effects, to the watering of plants by Rain in the open 
air and, when rain-water can be had, the employment 
of it is therefore to be recommended. 
RAIN BERRY. See Rhamnus catharticus. 
RAINBOW FLOWER. A common name for the 
genus Iris. 
RAIN-GAUGE. This is an instrument for measur- 
ing the amount of rain that falls in any place in any 
given time. Various forms are used, but all are much 
alike in essential points. In all there must be a collecting 
surface of known size. This is generally a brass funnel, 
with an upright rim about 1ŝin. high atound it, to pre- 
vent the drops from splashing over the edge. The rain- 
water runs down a tube into a receiver, which is pro- 
tected from any water getting into it, except by the 
tube, and prevents the water in it from evaporating. 
At certain hours, the amount of water in the receiver 
is poured into a graduated vessel, and is carefully mea- 
sured. Each mark on the measure represents, usually, 
yhoin. of rainfall. The receiver is generally made to hold 
3in. depth of rainfall, The collecting funnel may be of 
any size, so long as accurately known; but 5in. is the 
common diameter. The funnel must be placed abso- 
lutely horizontal, and should stand in the middle of an 
open piece of ground, in order to avoid eddies. The 
rim should be at least 6in. above the surface on which 
it stands; but it ought not to be raised much, as, 
other conditions remaining the same, the higher the 
gauge stands, the less rain it catches. Snow must be 
melted, and measured as water, in calculating the- total 
annual rainfall. Very slight showers cannot be mea- 
sured, as the rain-drops evaporate from the funnel 
without running into the receiver; hence, the record 
may be rather low, if such showers are frequent. 
RAISIN-TREE, JAPANESE. A common name 
for Hovenia dulcis. a 
RAJANIA. A synonym of Akebia (which see). 
RAKES. These are indispensable in gardens, for 
levelling ground previous to seed-sowing, for collecting 
weeds, grass, leaves, &c., and for various other purposes. 
There are different sorts: some have the heads made of 
iron, others haye wooden heads, into which iron teeth 
are driven, and others are made solely of wood, the 
Same as used for hay-making. What is known as a 
set of iron Rakes should be at command in gardens of 
extent—that is, sizes with heads varying in length; as, 
for instance, 
on. A very useful size, for collecting weeds, levelling 
Fig, 349. IRON RAKE. 
— — &c., is represented in Fig. 349. Wooden 
kes, of the ordinary make, are best adapted for 
* over uncropped ground, for levelling gravel in 
walks, and for collecting grass and leaves from lawns ; 
one or more of these may, therefore, be kept almost in 
constant use. Rakes with wooden handle and bar and 
in teeth, are suitable for breaking up lumps of soil, 
wooden teeth would soon become mutilated. Daisy 
F es have broad teeth, sharpened on both edges; they 
used for removing Daisy flowers, &c., from lawns. 
br AMAL, RAMEAL. Of, or belonging to, a 
one should be 6in., another 8in., and so | 
latter; the leayes are also used in winter salads. 
RAMENTA. Thin, chaffy scales, with which the 
stems of some plants, especially Ferns, are covered. 
RAMENTACEOUS. Covered with ramenta. 
RAMIFICATION. Sub-divisions of root, branches, 
leaves, or panicles. 
RAMIFLOROUS. Flowering on the branches. 
RAMMERS. Rammers are in frequent requisition 
in gardens, more particularly through the antumn and 
winter, when transplanting and various alterations are 
in progress. They are required for consolidating the 
earth about newly-transplanted trees, also round posta, 
&c. In the formation of new walks, and when laying 
turf,a Rammer is necessary for rendering the ground 
beneath firm and solid, A handy form of Rammer is 
that having a cast-iron head, with a socket for inserting 
a wooden handle. ‘Those generally seen are made of 
wood, tapering from a circular base upwards, and pro- 
vided with handles for lifting. Hand Rammers es | 
readily be made from any hard piece of prepared wood, 
such as an old spade-handle. They are indispensable 
when potting plants that require the soil to be very 
firm round their roots, i 
RAMONDIA (named in honour of L, F. Ramond, a 
French botanist and traveller, who died in 1827). Syne. 
Chaivia, Myconia. Orp. Gesneracen, A 
prising three species of hardy, stemless herbs; one is a — 
native of South Europe, the second is Siberian, and the 
third is an inhabitant of Greece, &c, Calyx free, with 
four, five, or rarely six ovate or oblong segments ; 
violet or pale purplish, with a rotate or broadly cam- 
panulate tube, and four, five, or rarely six broad, imbri- 
cating lobes; stamens affixed to the base of the corolla; 
scapes leafless, * or few-flowered. m, — 
softly rugose. two species are va 
R. pyrenaica is a very pretty little alpine plant, ad- 
mirably adapted for cultivating in fissures of rockwork, 
or for pot culture in cold frames. In thrives in well- 
drained peaty soil, and may be increased by seeds, or 
by division. R. serbica requires similar treatment. 
many, several, or rarely one-flowered. May. l rosulate, ovate, 
— toothed, thireute with long, rufous A. Sin. —— 
he. 1731. (R. G. 103.) SYN. Verbaseum Myeoni (B. M. 236). 
There is a white-flowered variety of this in cultivation, but it 
yet very rare in gardens. 
R. serbica (Servian). jl., corolla yellow, campanulate, parted to 
the middle in four obovate, su) segments ; scape one or 
two-flowered, ebracteate. 1 entire, obtuse, 
shortly attenuated at ( 
woolly beneath, 
Fic. 350. RAMPION. 
RAMPION (Campanula Rapwneulus). A hardy 
biennial, cultivated for the use of its fleshy roote in 
salads, either boiled or in a raw state, generally * 
genus com- 
