R A K 



by means of fpreadinci; thciii oat in a thin manner upon clolo 

 graiiy furfaccs, inflead of pulling them into ponds or pools 

 of itagnant water, in order that they may be expoled to the 

 atmofphere. It is occafionally employed for (lax and other 

 fmall ilalked plants, but feldom or never for hemp and thofe 

 which have large ones. It is a praflice which ihinds in need 

 of confiderablr attention and maaagement. See Rait. 



RAJUAPOUR, in Geography, a town of Mocaum- 

 pour ; 1 8 miles S. of Bargao. 



RAIVATA, in Hindoo Mythological Hiftory, one of the 

 faints or fages included in the denomination of Menus. Rai- 

 vata is faid to have been the fon of Agni, the regent of fire, 

 alfo called Pavaia, (which fee), and Mtnu. 



RAJYA, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in Ba- 

 har ; 20 miles'E.S.E. of Bahar. 



RAKAPORAH, a town of Hindooftan, in the circar 

 of Jufhpour ; 10 miles N.E. of Odeypour. 



RAKAS, a town ot Tranfylvania, on the Alaut ; 16 

 miles N.W. of Cronftadt. 



RAKE, in ylgriculture, a tool of the toothed kind, made 

 ufe of for many purpofes of hufbandry, as for collefting to- 

 gether hay, corn, ftubble, roots, leaves, and other fmiilar 

 lorts of materials. It is a very ufeful and convenient kind 

 of tool in all fuch intentions. There are many defcriptions 

 of this fort of implement. 



Rake, Bcan-Stubbk, a tool of the rake kind, conflrufted 

 for the purpofe of clearing bean-llubhles. It is employed 

 on fome farms in Eflex, as by Mr. Ketcher, at Burnham, 

 where it is found to be well adapted to this ufe, and to do 

 its work in a perfeft manner. The head, which is feven 

 feet eight inches in length, is formed with a very (light 

 curve, having teeth fet in it in rather a clofe manner, which 

 are one foot and a half in length, beading or curving a little 

 forwards at the points. It is attached by a frame to the 

 axle of the wheels, which is three feet two inches long ; and 

 the wheels are two feet fix inches in their diameter. The 

 hooks and ihafts for the horfe are four feet in length. This 

 is a very fimple conilrudlion of this nature, and one which 

 is capable of eafy application. The teeth ftiould be made 

 ftrong, whether they are of wood or iron. This is an im- 

 plement which wants to be better known in other diftritts. 



Rake, Corn, a large ftrong rake, made ufe of in dif- 

 ferent diftridts for bringmg together the mown grain crops. 

 It is fometimes conftrudted with wooden teeth, but 1 better 

 mode is to have them of iron, being a little bent forward, 

 having the length of feven or eight inches. As it requires 

 much exertion to perform the work with them, they fliould 

 always be made as light as poffible, fo as to have fufficient 

 power to perform the work. It has been ftated by Mr. 

 Somerville, in his Agricultural Survey of the Diftridt of 

 Eaft Lothian, that though the common hay-rake is moftly 

 ufed there, a different kind for grain has been partially tried, 

 and found to anfwer the purpofe much better. In this, the 

 length of the head is from ten to fifteen feet, the handle 

 about feven feet, with a piece of wood acrofs the end of it, 

 by which it is drawn by two men. The teeth are of wood 

 or iron ; the laft are the beft, as well as the moft durable, 

 and are a little bent forward at the point, which gives them 

 the power of retaining and carrying the cars along with 

 them, r.-iuch better than they would otherwife do. To 

 make clean work, efpecially if the ridges are gathered, the 

 field is raked acrofs : in that way, every thing is taken up. 

 But when it is preferred to draw the rake in the diredlion 

 of the ridges, it may be confiderably improved, by cutting 

 the head into two or three lengths, and joining them with 

 hinges, which will allow it to bend and accommodate itielf 

 to the curvature of the ridges. The advantage of this kind 



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of rake has been found confiderable, even in cafes where 

 every pofTible attention has been paid to the cutting of the 

 crop ; but it frequently happens, that, owing to the damp- 

 nefs, greennefs of the ftraw, or a foul grad'y bottom, it is 

 necellary to leave the crop unbound for a day or two, during 

 which, if it be overtaken by a high wind, much of it wiu 

 be fcattered and loft, unleis confiderable pains are taken to 

 gather it by hand-raking, or otherwife. Where the long 

 rake is ufed for that purpofe, the expence will in no in- 

 ftance, he thinks, exceed four-pence fterling per acre. An 

 experiment made on a field of 30 acres, will convey fome 

 idea of the benefit that may be derived from the ufe of that 

 inftrument. The field was in barley, and the rakings, when 

 threfhed, yielded 



£ s. d. 



71 bolls, fold at 28^. per boll - - 10 lO O 



150 ftones ftraw, fold at 6^/. ^cr Hone - 3 ij o 



Total produce 14 5 o 



Expence of raking 3 1 acres, at /\.d. per acre 

 Bread and beer to the rakers 

 Carting from the field, ftacking, &c. 

 Threfliing --.... 



Total expence 



10 4 

 016 

 026 

 076 



1 I 10 



Which deducted from 14/. 5^., leaves a profit of 13/. 3^-. 2d. 

 fterhng. It is neceflary to obferve, that about ten acres of 

 the field were left unbound, and a good deal difordcred by 

 a high wind ; but as confiderable pains were taken in the 

 binding, the proportion obtained from thefe ten acres did 

 not greatly exceed what was got from the reft of the held, 

 tlie whole of which was cut with a gi-eat deal of care. 



But though this mode of working the rake affords con- 

 fiderable profit and advantage, they would be a great deal 

 more, by having recourfe to horfes in the draught of them. 

 One horle in each would do as much labour as fevcral men, 

 in a given time; and by having fliafls and low wheels fixed 

 to the tool, it could be readily adapted to this method of 

 being wrought. 



Rake, Couching, a large fort of ftrong horfe-rake, with 

 long round tines or teeth, crooked or bent forward in a 

 gentle manner, and placed about two inches diftant from 

 each other ; and a fmall beam in the middle, with fide 

 pieces, and an apparatus for attaching the horfe to it. It 

 is found very ufehil in bringing together the roots of couch, 

 and other weeds, in order to their being burnt, or carried 

 off the land, aud in other ways deftroyed. See CoucH- 

 RiiLe, QviTCH-Raie, and RAKK-Twiuh.^^ 



Rake, Dew, a fort of large rake, or hand drag, fo 

 named from being ufed before the dew is off the ground, or 

 other fort of harveft work can be begun. It is a powerful 

 convenient fort of implement for harveft work. 



Rake, Garden, a well-known fort of tool for raking 

 the ground, as well as for putting in feeds, &c. \u 

 order to fuit every kind of gardening work with rakes, there 

 fliould be three or four different fizes, from about fix to 

 eighteen inches long in the head, having handles from fix to 

 eight feet in length, and the heads toothed with iron teeth 

 two or three inches long, being placed from one to twc 

 inches afunder, according to their refpedlive fizes. The 

 firft or largeft rake fliould have the head about fifteen to 

 eighteen inches long, the teeth three inches, and placed twc 

 inches afunder, which is proper for raking ftubborn ot 

 rough dug ground, and for putting in large kinds of feeds, 

 raking off large Aveeds after hoeing, and many other pur- 

 3 A 2 pofe<^ 



