R A U 



R A U 



in dry sand, as practised for carrots, carefullv 

 guarding them from wet and frost ; as in this 

 way they may be kept till the spring. 



In regard to the culture of the general crops, 

 they require very little, except occasional thin- 

 ning where they are too thick, when the plants 

 are come into the rough leaf, cither hy hoeing 

 or drawing them out by hand ; though for large 

 quantities, small-hoeing is the most expeditious 

 mode of thinning, as well as most beneficial to 

 the crop by loosening the ground; in either me- 

 thod thinning the plants to about two or three 

 inches distance, clearing out the weakest, an^ 

 leaving the strongest to form the crop. 



In order to save the seed, about the beginning 

 of May some ground should be prepared oy dig- 

 ging and levelling ; then drawing some of the 

 siraightest and besi-coloured radishes, and plant 

 them in rows three feet distant, and two feet 

 asunder in the rows; observing, if the season be 

 dry, to water them until they have taken root : 

 after which they will only require to have the 

 weeds hoed down between them, until they arc 

 advanced so high as to overspread the ground. 



When the seed begins to ripen, it should be 

 carefully guarded asrainst the birds. When it is 

 ripe, the pods will change brown: then it must 

 be cut, and spread in the sun to dry ; after 

 which it must be thrashed, and laid up for use 

 where no mice can come at it. 



Culture on Hot-leds. — This method is some- 

 times practised in order to have the roots early, 

 as in January or the following month. They 

 should have eighteen inches depth of dung to 

 bring them up, and six or seven inches depth of 

 light rich mould. The seed should be sown mo- 

 derately thick, covering it in half an inch thick, 

 and putting on the lights : die plants usually 

 come up in a week or less ; and when they ap- 

 pear, the lights should be lifted or taken off oc- 

 casionally, according to the weather; and in a 

 fortnight thin the plants to the distance of an 

 inch and half or two inches, when in six weeks 

 they will be fit to draw. Where there are no 

 frames to spare, the beds may be covered with 

 mras over hoops, and the sides secured by boards 

 and straw-bands. And when in want of dung, 

 if the beds be covered with frames, and the lights 

 put on at night and in bad weather, the plants 

 may be raised for use a fortnight sooner than in 

 the open borders. 



RASPBERRY. SeeRuBUS. 



RATTAN. See Calamus. 



RATTLE, RED. See Pedicularis. 



RATTLE, YELLOW. SccRhinanthus. 



RAUWOLFIA, a genus containing plants 

 of the tender exotic shrubby kind for the 

 stove. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandria 

 Muiiagynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Covtortce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 toothed perianth, very small, permanent : the 

 corolla one-petalled, funnel-form : tube cylin- 

 drical, globular at the base : border five-parted, 

 flat: segments roundish, emarginate: the sta- 

 mina have five filaments, shorter than the tube: 

 anthers erect, simple, acute : the pistillum is a 

 roundish germ : style very short: stigma capi- 

 tate : the pericarpium a subglobular driipe, one- 

 celled, with a groove on one side : the seed two 

 nuts, convex at the base, attenuated at the top, 

 compressed, two-celled. 



The species are : 1. R.nhida, Shining Rau- 

 wolfia ; 2. R. canescens, Hoary R.iuwolfia. 



The first is a small tree, shining all over very 

 much, upright, full of a white glutinous milk, 

 twelve feet high : the leaves at the joints of the 

 twigs in fours, lanceolate, quite entire, sharp, 

 petioled ; the two nearest five inches in length, 

 twice as long as the two others. Common pe- 

 duncles racemed, terminating, half an inch long, 

 two or three together: the flowers small, with- 

 out scent, having white petals. The fruits are at 

 first yellowish, but at length b'jconie very dark 

 purple, are milky, and three times as large as a 

 pea: globular, fleshy, twin, two-seeded : the 

 nuts or stones, like those of grapes, of a bony 

 substance. It is a native of South America, 

 flowering here from June to September. 



The second species is an upright shrub, the 

 whole of it milky, from one to eight feet in 

 height, with all the parts of a corresponding size, 

 according to the soil and situation. The younger 

 branches subtomentose : the leaves in fours, 

 obovate, attenuated to the base, acute, wrinkled, 

 tomentose underneath, quite entire, the two 

 nearest longer than the other two. Petioles hir- 

 sute, round. Common peduncles branched, 

 terminating in fours. (Cvmes peduneled, se- 

 veral, and two at the forkings of the stem.): 

 Flowers reddish, small, without scent.' It is a 

 native of the Caribbee Islands, &c. 



Culture. — These may be increased by the 

 seeds or berries, which should be sown in pots 

 filled with light mould, in the autumn or spring, 

 plunging them in a mild hot-bed. When the 

 plants have attained some growth, thev should 

 be removed into separate pots, and have the 

 management of other exotic stove plants. 



They may likewise be raised by layers and 

 cuttings, laid down or planted out in pots, 

 plunged in the hot-bed in the spring and summer 

 months, till they have stricken root, being 

 afterwards manaoed as those from seed. 



Tliey afford much ornament and variety ia 



