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CRAU (from a See also: southern See also: France, comprised in the department of Bouches-du-Rhone, and bounded W. by the canal from See also: Arles to See also: Port du Bouc and the Rhone, N. by the chain of the Alpines separating it from an analogous region, the Petite 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 low-lying, waterless 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 mass by deposits of calcareous mud, beneath which lies a See also: bed of loose stones, once thesea-bed
.
Naturally sterile and poor in 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 century; about one-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 irrigation is practicable, See also: water-
meadows have been formed
.
The dryness of the See also: climate is unfavourable to the production of cereals
.
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