C R A 



CRA 



petioles round on one side, channelled on the 

 other, strigose : panicles terminating, very long, 

 composed of alternate compound racemes, pe- 

 duncled, divaricate: flowers pedicelled, erect and 

 white. It is a native of the Canary Islands ; 

 flowering in May and June. 



Culture. — The most proper soil for raising the 

 first sort, is that of the sandy or gravelly kind. 

 The usual method of cultivating it is, by sowing 

 the seed in drills upon raised beds, about four 

 feet and a half wide, with alleys of two feet be- 

 tween them, cither in the autumn or spring. 

 The ground should be prepared, by digging it 

 well over to the depth of two feet, and reducing it 

 well in the operation. It should then be formed 

 into beds of the above breadth, and three 

 shallow drills be made length-ways by a line 

 on each ; the seeds being thinly scattered in, 

 and covered to the depth of about an inch, and 

 the whole raked even. As soon as the plants are 

 up, they should be thinned out, by removing 

 the weakest to the distance of eight or ten 

 inches, and kept perfectly free from weeds, by oc- 

 casional hoeing in the summer season. In the 

 beginning of the following autumn, the decayed 

 stems should be cleared away, and light earth 

 from the alleys be laid over the beds, to the depth 

 of two or three inches. The following spring 

 and summer, the plants , should be kept clear 

 from weeds, and earthed up in the autumn to the 

 depth of three or four inches with light sandy 

 earth. In the second spring, some of the roots 

 are often in a state to be cut ; but it is the best 

 practice to repeat the same management in the au- 

 tumn, and let them remain till the third spring, 

 when they will be large, and in full perfection. 



The author of the"" Philosophy of Garden- 

 ing," on the authority of a friend, has suggested 

 another method of raising and blanching crops 

 of this sort, which is by sowing the seed about 

 the beginning of April in drills, the plants be- 

 ing earthed up and kept clean from weeds. In 

 the beginning of autumn, the roots of the plants 

 should be removed into high beds, one row of 

 them being planted on each, at the distance of 

 about a foot, being well earthed up in the win- 

 ter. The driest ground should be chosen for 

 this purpose. It is not in a state to be eaten 

 till the third year after being sown. The year 

 before cutting, it is directed to be " covered 

 up in the beginning of winter, first with stable 

 dung, kept from pressing on it, by a few sticks 

 placed like a cone over each root, then with long 

 litter, two or three feet high, the higher the bet- 

 ter, as the more it is forced the earlier it is fit to 

 be gathered, and the whiter it will be." In this 

 culture, it may be begun to be gathered about 

 »the beginning of January, and continued till 

 May, one bed being kept under another. 



Beds planied in either of these methods will 

 continue for a great number of years, producing 

 crops annually, care being taken to keep the 

 plants clean from weeds, and in the former well 

 earthed up in the autumn, to blanch the roots, 

 stirring the surface a little with a fork in the 

 spring, and raking the surface even. 



In this mode of culture, some also advise the 

 beds to be covered in winter with dry rotted dung, 

 to promote the growth of the plants, as well as 

 protect them from frost, removing the more 

 coarse part as the spring approaches, in order to 

 loosen the surface, and render it even. 



In gathering the shoots, the earth should be 

 opened, and the shoots cut some inches beiow 

 the surface. 



The author of Phytologia remarks, that this 

 is an excellent vegetable at an early season, when 

 boiled, and served up as asparagus ; and that 

 the young heads, without being blanched, are 

 " equal, or superior to most kinds of brocoli." 



When cultivated for the purpose of ornament, 

 the seeds should be sown where the plants are 

 intended to remain in the early spring months ; 

 or on beds, in order to be transplanted in the 

 autumn. 



The two last species may be increased by plant- 

 ing cuttings of the young shoots in the spring, 

 or summer season, in pots filled with light 

 sandy earth, watering them sparingly, and giv- 

 ing them the protection of the greenhouse in 

 winter. 



They are very ornamental among collections of 

 this sort of plants. 



CRASSULA, a genus containing plants of 

 the succulent kind for the greenhouse and stove. 

 Lesser Orpine, or Live-Ever. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandrla 

 Pcnlagyiiiu, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Succulcntce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, five-cleft; divisions lanceolate, 

 channelled-concave, erect, acute, converging in- 

 to a tube, permanent : the corolla has five 

 petals, claws long, linear, straight, converg- 

 ing, connected at the base with the ovate 

 bractes at the border, reflex-expanding: nec- 

 taries five; each with a very small emarginate 

 scale, annexed outwardly to the base of the germ : 

 the stamina consist of five subulate filaments, 

 length of the tube, inserted in the claws of the 

 corolla: anthers simple: the pistillum has five 

 germs, oblongs acuminate, ending in subulate 

 styles the length of the stamens : stigmas obtuse .- 

 the pcriearpium consists of five capsules, oblong, 

 acuminate, straight, compressed, gaping inwards 

 lengthwise: the seeds many and small. 



The speciesare: 1 . C. coccinea, Scarlet-flower- 

 ed Crassula; 2. C. pcrfoliata, Perfoliate Shrubby 



