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It is also possible, that the 8+ just is not necessary for the traditional alpine music that is usually played on the Raffele. But the 1+ is very helpful to produce some minor and 7th chords in the lower octave (in fact, Raffele players won't call it a "1+" - but I think the counting system of the MD is quite helpful for unterstanding the Raffele fret layout as well).
Many diatonic instruments are "irregular" in some way - for example, the diatonic "Blues harp" (which has the layout invented by a man named "Richter" in the 19th century) has only one "complete" octave in the "middle". The lower and higher octave are incomplete.
Sorry for the information overflow...
I sometimes tend to answer questions nobody has asked... 
Interesting that there is no 8+ fret to compliment the 1+ fret. Maybe the space is too tight?