AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



363 



RAD 



Radical. Springing from the root, or from its 

 crowu. 



Radicans. Rooting from the stem or leaves. 



Radicle. The first root of a $ lant, rudimentary 

 in the embryo. 



Radicose. Having a large root. 



Radish. The well-known esculent root of Ra- 

 phanus sativus (which see). The common gar- 

 den Radish is a hardy annual, entirely un- 

 known in its native state. It is usually 

 credited to China. It has long been held in 

 high esteem, and before the Christian era a 

 volume was written on this plant alone. The 

 ancient Greeks, in offering their oblations to 

 Apollo, presented Turnips in lead, Beets in 

 silver, and Radishes in vessels of beaten gold. 

 Pliny observes that Radishes grow best in 

 saline soils, or when they are watered with 

 salt water ; and hence, he says, the Radishes 

 of Egypt are better than any in the world, on 

 account of their being supplied with nitre ; 

 modern experience, however, does not allow 

 us to endorse this. He gives some account of 

 the kinds grown at Rome in his day, one of 

 which he describes as being so clear and 

 transparent that one might see through the 

 roots. The Radish was introduced into Eng- 

 land during the sixteenth century. Four 

 kinds were cultivated by Gerarde in the latter 

 part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Since 

 that time many new varieties have been in- 

 troduced and disseminated by European 

 seedsmen and gardeners. The seed is exten- 

 sively grown in France and Germany, and to 

 those countries we are indebted for our sup- 

 ply more than to any other. For a seed crop 

 the plants are taken from a seed-bed and 

 transplanted when quite small, an operation 

 that can only be carried on profitably where 

 labor is very cheap, When ripe, the plants 

 are cut to the ground and stacked, and 

 allowed to remain so a year before they are 

 threshed. If this care is not observed, and 

 the seed threshed out soon after ripening, it 

 will invariably become heated and spoiled, 

 and this is the chief cause of failure in the 

 germination of the seed. The seed retains its 

 vitality a number of years. The varieties of 

 Radish now most prized are : French Break- 

 fast, Early Round Dark Red, Early Scarlet 

 Turnip, Wood's Early Frame, White-tipped 

 Scarlet Turnip, and for winter the Rose Chi- 

 nese. Radishes are largely grown in the 

 Southern States to be shipped north, as it is a 

 vegetable probably more than any other 

 grown, that is appreciated for its earliness. 

 Immense quantities are raised under glass in 

 green-houses, hot-beds, and cold-frames in the 

 vicinity of all large cities. It is estimated 

 that upward of twenty acres are raised under 

 glass in the vicinity of New York. A light, 

 rather sandy soil, well enriched with short 

 stable manure, suits them best. Under glass 

 the temperature should not exceed 60 at 

 night, with ten to fifteen degrees higher dur- 

 ing the day. The variety most used for forc- 

 ing is the Round Dark Red. 



Radish. Horse. Cochlearia Armoracia. 

 Sea. Raphanus maritimus. 

 Rat- Tail. See Raphanus caudatus. 

 Water. Nasturtium amphibium. 

 Wild. Raphanus Raphanistrum. 



RAK 



Radius. The circumference or outer side of 

 the circle formed by umbels or heads, or other 

 such parts. 



Radix. The root ; that part which is the de- 

 velopment of the radicle. 



Raffia, or Roffia. See Raphia. 



Raffle'sia. Patma-wort. Named after Sir 

 Stamford Raffles, who discovered the plant in 

 the interior of Sumatra, where it is called 

 Ambun-Ambun. Nat. Ord. Rajflesiacece. 



The typical genus of a wonderful order of 

 parasitical plants resembling some species of 

 Fungi in general appearance, but which, ac- 

 cording to the authority of the celebrated 

 English botanist, Robert Brown, is a true 

 flower, having stamens in one plant and pis- 

 tils in another. R. Arnoldi was found in the 

 Island of Sumatra about sixty j-ears ago, and 

 was then, as it is now, considered to be one 

 of the greatest wonders of the Vegetable 

 Kingdom. It consists of five fleshy lobes or 

 petals, each three feet across, of a spotted or 

 mottled red color, the centre forming a cup- 

 like dish, capable of holding six quarts of 

 water. It has the offensive odor of some 

 species of Fungi, and was first supposed to 

 belong to that order from this fact, and its 

 general resemblance to the Fungus class. 



Ra'fnia. Named in honor of C. G. Rafn, a Dan- 

 ish botanist, who wrote a flora of Denmark 

 in 1796. Nat. Ord. Leguminosw. 



A genus of glaucous, often glabrous, shrubs, 

 natives of South Africa. They all have yellow 

 flowers in short terminal racemes. A few 

 species, much resembling some of the Croto- 

 larias, are in cultivation, and are propagated 

 by cuttings of the firm side shoots, or by 

 seeds. 



Ragged Robin. Lychnis Flos-cuculi. 



Ragged Sailor. See Polygonum. 



Ragweed. Ambrosia trifida. 



Ragwort. See Othonna, and Senecio Jacobcea. 



Rain-berry. Rhamnus catharticus. 



Rainbow Flower. A popular name for the 

 genus Iris. 



Rainbow Plant. A name given to AUemanthera 

 paronychioides major. 



Raisin-Tree. Japanese. A common name for 

 Hovenia dulcis, and Ribes rubrum. 



Rake. This is the implement usually used for 

 leveling the soil after digging, or in cleaning 

 up walks, etc., but for many years we have 

 found the steel rake, of a size suitable to the 

 work to be done, to be the most effective tool 

 used in our grounds for the prevention of 

 weeds. 



Nearly all our first "hoeing "is done by 

 these rakes ; that is, the ground, in from 

 three to four days after planting or sowing, is 

 raked over, thus destroying the weeds just as 

 they begin to germinate and before they ap- 

 pear on the surface. In from five to ten days, 

 according to the state of the weather, the 

 ground is again gone over with the rakes. 

 We are no believers in deep hoeing in newly- 

 planted ground ; it is only when plants begin 

 to grow, and when the soil gets hard, that 

 deep hoeing is beneficial. By the use of the 

 steel rake in this manner, three times as much 

 work can be done as by the hoe. It cannot 

 be used, of course, if the weeds are up, but If 



