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CRAU (from a Celtic root meaning " st...

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 382 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CRAU (from a See also:Celtic See also:root meaning " See also:stone ")  , a region of See also:southern See also:France, comprised in the See also:department of Bouches-du-See also:Rhone, and bounded W. by the See also:canal from See also:Arles to See also:Port du Bouc and the Rhone, N. by the See also:chain of the Alpines separating it from an analogous region, the Petite See also:Crau, E. by the hills around See also:Salon and Istres, S. by the gulf of Fos, an inlet of the Mediterranean See also:Sea . Covering an See also:area of about 200 sq. m., the Crau is a See also:low-lying, waterless See also:plain, owing its formation to a sudden inundation, according to some authorities, of the Rhone and the See also:Durance, according to others of the Durance alone . Its See also:surface is formed chiefly of stones varying in See also:size from an See also:egg to a See also:man's See also:head; these, mixed with a proportion of See also:fine See also:soil, overlie a subsoil formed of stones cemented into a hard See also:mass by deposits of calcareous mud, beneath which lies a See also:bed of loose stones, once thesea-bed . Naturally sterile and poor in See also:lime, the Crau is adapted for See also:agriculture by the See also:process of warping, carried out by means of the Canal de Craponne, which See also:dates from the See also:middle of the 16th See also:century; about one-See also:quarter of the region in the See also:north and See also:east has thus been covered by the See also:rich deposits of the See also:waters of the Durance . The soil also responds in places to deep cultivation and the application of artificial See also:manures . By these See also:aids, uncultivated See also:land, which before supplied only rough and scanty pasture for a few See also:sheep, has been fitted for the growth of the See also:vine, See also:olive and other fruits; where See also:irrigation is practicable, See also:water- meadows have been formed . The dryness of the See also:climate is unfavourable to the See also:production of cereals .

End of Article: CRAU (from a Celtic root meaning " stone ")
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CRATIPPUS (fl. c. 375 B.c.)
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GUSTAVE CRAUCK (1827-1905)

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