RAN 



RAP 



morning sun ; and when their leaves and stems 

 be^in to decay, the roots may be taken up, dried 

 in a proper place, and then put up in bags to be 

 planted out in the same manner as the old roots 

 in October. 



In the following summer they will produce 

 flowers ; u lien such as are good should be mark- 

 ed, and the others removed from tiiem. The 

 plants intended to flower should not be sufllved 

 to run to seed, as roots which have produced 

 seeds seldom furnish line flowers afterwards. 

 The disappointments experienced in purchasing 

 these roots chiefly depend upon this circumstance. 



The roots intended for the borders should be 

 planted towards the spring in little clumps or 

 patches, three, four, or five roots in each, put- 

 ting them in either with a dibble or trowel about 

 two inches deep and three or four asunder in 

 each patch, and the patches from about three 

 to five or ten feet distance, placing them in a 

 varied manner in the borders. 



In regard to their general culture after plant- 

 ing, such of the forward autumnal-planted roots 

 of the choice sorts in beds as have shot above 

 s;round, should in winter, where convenient, 

 have occasional shelter from hard frosts by mats 

 supported on low hoop arches ; or in very severe 

 weather be covered close with dry long litter, re- 

 moving all covering in open weather : atid in the 

 spring, when the flower buds begin first to ad- 

 vance, shelter them in frosty nights with support- 

 ed mats, suffering them however to be open to the 

 full air every day; but the latter plantings, that 

 do not come up in winter or very early in spring 

 whilst frosty nights prevail, will not require any 

 protection, and all those distributed in patches 

 about the borders must also take their chance in 

 all weathers : those of the different seasons of 

 planting will succeed one another in flowering 

 from the beginning of April until the middle of 

 June, though the May blow generally shows to 

 the greatest perfection. 



After the blow is past, and the leaves and 

 stalks withered, the roots should be taken up 

 and dried in the shade, then cleared from all off- 

 sets and adhering mould, putting them up in 

 bags or boxes till next planting seasons, when 

 they must be planted again as directed above. 



In each season of planting, it is highly ne- 

 cessary, in the principal fine varieties, to put 

 them either in entire new beds, or the old ones 

 refreshed with some fresh rich earth or compost, 

 working the old and new well together, in order 

 to invigorate the growth of the plants. 



The other species are capable of being easily 

 raised by the roots, which should be slipped or 

 parted in autumn when past flowering, or in the 

 spring before they begin to shoots and the slips 



be either planted at once where they are to re- 

 nsain, or in nursery-rows for a season, then 

 planted out finally. They succeed in any com- 

 mon soil and situation^ and may he dispersed 

 about the different flower-borders and clumps, 

 where they constantly remain, only trimming 

 them occasionally; and once in a year or two, 

 or when they have increased into large bunches, 

 taking them up in autunui or spring to divide 

 them for further increase, replanting them again ^ 

 directly. 



In saving seed for raising new varieties, it 

 must be suffered to continue on the plant till it 

 becomes brown and dry, then be cut off, and 

 spread upon paper, in a dry room, exposed to 

 the sun, and u hen quite drv be put into a bag, 

 and hung iir a dry place till it is wanted. 



All these plants are highly ornamental ; the 

 first sort in beds and pots, and the other in the 

 borders, clumps, and other parts of pleasure- 

 grounds. 



RAPE. See Brassica. 



RAPHANUS, a genus containing plants of 

 the herbaceous aimual esculent kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Telradynamia 

 Siliquosa, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Siliquosce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a four- 

 leaved perianth, erect : leaflets oblong, parallel, 

 converging, deciduous, gibbous at the base : 

 the corolla four-petalled, cruciform : petals ob- 

 cordate, spreading : claws a little longer than 

 the calyx: nectariferous glands four; one on 

 each side, one between the short stamen and 

 pistil, and one on each side between the longer 

 stamina and the calyx : the stamina have six, 

 awl-shaped filaments, erect; of these, two that 

 are opposite are of the same length with the 

 calyx, and the remaining four are the lenirth of 

 the claws of the corolla : anthers snnple : the 

 plstillum is an oblong germ, ventricose, attenu- 

 ated, the length of the stamens : style scarcely 

 any: stigma capitate, entire: the pericarpium 

 is an oblong silique, with a point, ventricose 

 with little swellings, subarticulate, cylindrical : 

 seeds roundish, smooth. 



The species cultivated is : R. sativus, Com- 

 mon Garden Radish. 



It has an annual root, large, fleshy, fusiform 

 or subglobular, white withm, red or white or 

 black on the outside : the stem upright, thick, 

 very much branched and diffused, rough with 

 pellucid bristles : the leaves rough, lyrate : the 

 calyx green, rough-haired : the petals pale vio- 

 let, with large veins running over them ; the 

 pod long, with a sharp beak, fungous, white, 

 with distant streaks, many-celled : cells mem- 

 branaceous, closed, in a double longitudinal 

 2U2 



