AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



271 



Bain 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. 



BAIN BERRY. See Rhaninus 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 liin. high around 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, 

 -jigin. of rainfall. The receiver is generally made to hold 

 Sin. depth of rainfall. The collecting funnel may be of 

 any size, so long as accurately known; but Sin. 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 Gin. 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. 



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 have 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, one should be 6in., another 8in., and so 

 on. A very useful size, for collecting weeds, levelling 



FIG. 349. IRON BAKE. 



seed-beds, &c., is represented in Fig. 349. Wooden 

 Rakes, of the ordinary make, are best adapted for 

 raking 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 

 iron teeth, are suitable for breaking up lumps of soil, 

 where wooden teeth would soon become mutilated. Daisy 

 Rakes have broad teeth, sharpened on both edges ; they 

 are used for removing Daisy flowers, &c., from lawns. 



RAMAL, RAMEAL. Of, or belonging to, a 

 branch. 



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. 



RAMIFIiOROUS. Flowering on the branches. 

 RAMMERS. Rammers are in frequent requisition 

 in gardens, more particularly through the autumn and 

 winter, when transplanting and various alterations are 

 in progress. They are required for consolidating the 

 earth about newly-transplanted trees, also round posts, 

 &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 may 

 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. 



RAMONDIA (named in honour of L. F. Kamond, a 

 French botanist and traveller, who died in 1827). SYNS. 

 Chaixia, Myconia. OBD. Gesneraceae. A genus com- 

 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 ; corolla 

 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, one or few- flowered. Leaves radical, 

 softly rugose. Only two species are in cultivation. 

 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. 

 R. pyrenaica (Pyrenean).* Rosette Mullein, n. purple ; calyx 

 and corolla five-parted, the latter with suh-obovate lobes ; scapes 

 many, several, or rarely one-flowered. May. I. rosulate, ovate, 



, , -. . 



deeply toothed, hirsute with long, rufous hairs, h. 3in. Pyrenees, 

 &c., 1731. (R. G. 703.) SYN. Verbascum Myconi (B. M. 236). 

 There is a white-flowered variety of this in cultivation, but it is 

 yet very rare in gardens. 



R. serbica (Servian). /., corolla yellow, campanulate, parted to 

 the middle in four obovate, sub-equal segments ; scape one or 

 two-flowered, ebracteate. I. rather thick, ovate, entire, obtuse, 

 shortly attenuated at base, white-silky above, ferruginously 

 woolly beneath, lin. long. Thessaly. SYN. Jankxa Heldreichii. 



RAMOSE. Branched or branching. 



FIG. 350. RAMPION. 



RAMFION (Campanula Rapunculus). A hardy 

 biennial, cultivated for the use of its fleshy roots in 

 salads, either boiled or in a raw state, generally the 

 latter; the leaves are also used in winter salads. It 



