RAP 



A f'-cond more general fowing fhould be made in Janu- 

 ary or Ftbruary. Wlien the crops liave got their rough 

 leaf, they fhoulJ be tiiinned out, where they are too thick, 

 to the dillance of two inches, as tliere will be conllantly 

 more thinning by the daily drawing of the young radifhcs. 



When the weather is dry in March, or the following 

 month, the crops ihould be occalionally well watered, which 

 not only forwards the growth of the crops, but increafes 

 the fize of the roots, and renders them more mild and crifp 

 in eating. 



And thefowings fhould be continued at the diltance of a 

 fortnight, till the latter end of March, when they fhould 

 be performed every ten days, until the end of April or 

 beginning of the following month. In fowing thefe later 

 crops, it is the praftiee of fome gardeners to fow cofs-let- 

 tuces and fpinach with them, in order to have the two crops 

 cominT forward at the fame time, but the praftice is not to 

 be mucfc recommended, where there is fufTicient room. 



But in fowing the main general crops in the open quar- 

 ters, the market-gardeners generally put them in on the 

 fame ground where they plant out their main crops of cau- 

 liflowers and cabbages, mixing fpinach with the radifli-ieed 

 as above, fowing the feeds firil, and raking them in, then 

 planting the cauliflowers or cabbages ; the radifhes and 

 fpinach come in for ufe before the other plants begin to 

 fpread much, and as foon as thofe fmall crops are all 

 cleared off for ufe, hoe the ground all over to kill weeds and 

 loofen the foil, drawing earth about the Hems of the cauli- 

 flowers and cabbages. 



The turnip radifli fliould not be fown till the beginning 

 of March, the plants being allowed a greater dillance than 

 for the common fpindle-rooted fort. The feeds of this fort 

 are apt to degenerate, unlefs they are fet at a diilance from 

 that kind. 



The white and black Spanifli radifhes are ufually fown 

 about the middle of Jidy, or a little earlier, and are fit for 

 the table by tlie end of Auguft, or the beginning of Sep- 

 tember, continuing good till froll fpoils them. Thefe (hould 

 be thinned to a greater diftance than the common fort, as 

 their roots grow as large as turnips, and (liould not be left 

 nearer than fix inches. 



To have thefe roots in winter, they fliould be drawn 

 before hard froll comes on, and laid in dry fand, as praftifed 

 for carrots, carefully guarding tliem from wet and froft ; as 

 in this way they may be kept till the fpring. 



In regard to the culture of the general .crops, they re- 

 quire very little, except occafional thinning where they are 

 too thick, when the plants are come into the rough leaf, 

 either by hoeing or drawing them out by hand : though for 

 large quantities, fmall hoeing is the moil expeditious mode 

 of thinning, as well as moll beneficial to the crop by loofen- 

 ing the ground ; in either method thinning the plants to 

 about two or three inches diilance, clearing out the weakeft, 

 aad leaving the ftrongell to form the crop. 



In order to fave the feed, about the beginning of May 

 fome ground fliould be prepared by digging and levelling ; 

 then drawing fome of the ilraightell and beil-coloured 

 radiflies, plant them in rows three feet dillant, and two 

 feet afunder in the rows ; obferving, if the feafon be dry, 

 to water them until they have taken root : after which they 

 \vill only require to have the weeds hoed down between them, 

 until they are advanced fo high as to overfpread the ground. 



When the feed begins to ripen, it fliould be carefully 

 guarded againit the birds. When it is ripe, the pods will 

 turn brown : t^ien it mull be cut, and fpread in the fun to 

 dry ; after which it mull be thrallied, and laid up for ufe 

 where no mice can gome at it. 



R A P 



MetJioiliiJ Culture on Ilol-heds. — Tiiis method is foinetime-.i 

 practifed in order to liavc the roots early, as in January oi 

 the following month. They (hould have eighteen inches 

 depth of dung to bring them up, and fix or feveii inches 

 depth of light rich mould. The feed fliould be fown mo- 

 derately thick, covering it in half an inch thick, and put- 

 ting on the lights : the plants ufually come up m a week 

 or lefs ; and when they appear, the lights (hould be lifted 

 or taken oft occafionally, according to the weather ; and 

 in a fortnight thin the plants to the diilance of an inch and 

 half or two inches, when in fix weeks they will be fit to 

 draw. Where there are no frames to fpare, the beds may 

 be covered with mats over hoops, and the fides fecured by 

 boards and ftraw-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 raifed for 

 ufe a fortnight fooner than in the open borders. 



RAPHE, in jinatomy, a Greek term, fignifying future, 

 applied to fome parts of the body ; thus we liavc the 

 raphe corporis callofi in the brain (fee Brain); raphe 

 perinei, fcroti, and penis. See Generation. 



RAPHELENGIUS,fometimes called Raulenghien, 

 Francis, in B'wgrnphy, a learned orientalifl, was born in 

 1539 at Lanoy, near Lille, in Flanders. He had the early 

 part of his education at Ghent, but on the death of his 

 father, it was intended to bring him up to trade, and for 

 that purpofe he was lent to Nuremberg. Here he had 

 accefs to books, relumed his lludies, and took an opportu- 

 nity of going to Paris, where he made great progrefs in 

 the Greek and Hebrew languages. The civil wars obliged 

 him to quit France, and he came to England, where, for 

 fome time, he taught Greek in the univerfity of Cam- 

 bridge. After this he returned to the Low Countries, and 

 became a cor'reclor of the prefs to the celebrated printer 

 Plantin, whofe daughter he married in the year 1565. He 

 made himfelf very ferviceable in the printing office, efpecially 

 with refpeft to the famous Antwerp Polyglot Bible, printed 

 in 1 57 1 by order of Philip II. of Spain. When Plantin 

 removed to Leyden, he left his bufinefs at Antwerp under 

 the care of Raphelengius, and upon his return the latter 

 went to Leyden. The curators of the univerfity of that 

 place conferred upon him the profeflbrlhip of Hebrew, to 

 which was added that of Arabic. He died in 1597. His 

 literary works were " Varise Leftiones et Emendationes in 

 Chaldaicam Bibliorum Paraphrafin ;" " Grainmatica He- 

 brsea ;" " Didlionarium Chaldaicum ;" and " Lexicon 

 Arabicum." He had a fon of the fame name, a man of 

 talents and learning, who publifhed " Notes upon Seneca's 

 Tragedies," and " Eulogies, in Verfe, of fifty Perfons, with 

 their Portraits." 



RAPHIA, in Botany, from pa^i:, a point or needle, fo 

 that it ought to have been Rhaphia, a genus of Palms, with 

 a very pointed fruit, efl;ablillied by Palifot Beauvois, in his 

 Flore d'Oivare et de Benin, falc. 8. 



Raphia, in Ancient Geography, a famous city in the Me- 

 diterranean, between Gaza and Rhinocorura. This was 

 perhaps Gatli of the Rephiam. Raphia is famous for the 

 vitlory of Philopator, king of Egypt, over Antiochus the 

 Great, king of Syria. (3Maccab. i. 11.) Jofephus fays 

 (Aiitiq. 1. xiii. c. 21.) that Raphia was taken by Alexander 

 Jannieus, and after being ruined in the wars, was repaired 

 by Gabinius. There are extant fome ancient medals ilruck 

 at Raphia, and fome bifliops of this city are found in the 

 lifts of the eallern councils. 



RAPPIIDIA, in Entomology, a genus of infe£ls of the 

 order Neuroptera, of which there are two fpecies. The 

 generic charafter is as follows ; Mouth with a curved 



toothed 



