RAXUXCULUS. 



262 



EA^'u^-cuLus. 



RAGGED ROBIN. -See Ly'ch- j 

 KIS. 



Eagwoet. — See Otho'xna ; and j 

 Sene'cio. 



Rake. — A -^-ell-known tootlied 

 implement for raking the surface of 

 dry ground, or collecting together 

 grass on la^Tis which hare been 

 mown, or weeds on surfaces which 

 have been hoed. There is also what 

 is called the Daisy rake, in which 

 the teeth or tines are lance-shaped, 

 sharp at the edges, and so close 

 together that when drawn or raked 

 over the surface of a lawn, they 

 collect or cut off the heads or flowers 

 of such plants as the Daisy, Crow- 

 foot, Plantain, &c. The heads of 

 rakes, or that part which contains 

 the teeth or tines, are of different ' 

 lengths, from six inches to two 

 feet ; and the teeth, which are placed 

 at from one inch to two inches ' 

 apart, are from two inches to four in 

 length. In raking dug soil with a j 

 view to render the surface even and j 

 fine, and also to collect stones, roots, I 

 &c., the handle of the rake should , 

 be held close to the middle of the ' 

 operator, so that the tines may pass 

 through the ground at an angle less | 

 than 45° ; but when weeds or short 

 grass are to be raked up, or the heads 

 of Daisies to be cut off, the handle 

 of the rake must be held above the 

 middle of the operator, so that the 

 tines may form an angle with the 

 soil above 45". In the latter case it 

 is desii-able that the tines should 

 slide along the surface ; but in the 

 . former it is necessary that they 

 should penetrate into it throughout 

 nearly their whole length. 



B.A'sxj'ycrLTis.— Ranuncnlacece. 

 — The Ranunculus. — The species 

 may be divided into two kinds — 

 border flowere, and florists' flowers. 

 The latter consists of some hundreds 

 of varieties obtained from the species 



BanHnculus asidticiis, a native of 

 the Levant with tuberous roots, 

 which is rather too tender to endure 

 the winter in the open air without 

 some kind of protection. The wild 

 plant grows naturally in Persia, in 

 meadows which are moist during 

 winter and in the growing season, 

 but diy during great part of sum- 

 mer. Hence one of the first requi- 

 sites in the culture of this flower 

 is a loamy soil kept moist ; and 

 as the varieties are all double and 

 in a highly artificial state, the soil 

 requires to be made very rich with 

 leaf-mould, or the mould of hot- 

 bed dung. The common season for 

 planting the Ranunculus is Novem- 

 ber ; the roots may be placed about 

 six inches apart every way, covered 

 with two inches of soil, and pro- 

 tected by straw, mats, or rotten 

 tan, during severe frosts. The plants 

 will come into flower in July, and 

 when the leaves wither, the roots 

 may be taken up, dried in the shade, 

 and preserved in a dry place till 

 they are wanted for replanting. A 

 great many named kinds may be 

 procured in the seed-shops, the most 

 distinct of which are the Turban, or 

 very dark red, the orange, the 

 white, and the fine or cut-leaved. 

 As the plant seeds freely even when 

 semi-double, new sorts without end 

 may be raised from seed which may 

 be sown in pots or flat pans as soon 

 as it is gathered and placed in 

 a cold frame. The common mode 

 of propagating the Ranunculus is by 

 separating the offsets from the larger 

 roots. 



The common kinds of Ranunculus 

 are British weeds ; but there are 

 several border flowers belonging to 

 this family which are well deserving 

 of cultivation, and of which the 

 following are the most remarkable : 

 R. aconitifolim, the white-flowered 

 Bachelor's Button, an old inhabitant 



