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TARN (O. Eng. tame, Scand. tjarn, tjd...

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 429 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TARN (O. Eng. tame, Scand. tjarn, tjdrn, horn, &c.)  , a name applied in England (especially in the Lake
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District) and in Scotland to small lakes or pools in mountainous districts, especially to such as have no visible affluent streams . The
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term is sometimes used also of a marsh or bog . TARN-ET-GARONNE, a department of south-western France, formed in 18o8 of districts formerly belonging to
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Guienne and Gascony (Quercy, Lomagne,
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Armagnac, Rouergue,
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Agenais), with the addition of a small piece of
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Languedoc . From 1790 to 18o8 its territory was divided between the departments of Lot, Haute-Garonne, Tarn,
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Aveyron,
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Gers and Lot-et-Garonne . It is bounded N. by Lot, E. by Aveyron, S. by Tarn and Haute-Garonne, and W. by Gers and Lot-et-Garonne .
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Area, 1440 sq. m . Pop . (1906) 188,553 . The department is watered by three rivers, the Garonne, the Tarn, which joins the Garonne below
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Moissac, and the Aveyron, which flows into the Tarn between Moissac and Montauban, dividing it into three distinct regions of hills . Those to the south-west of the Garonne are a continuation of the plateau of Lannemezan; ramifications of the Cevennes extend between the Garonne and the Tarn, and between the Tarn and the Aveyron; the region to the north of the continuous valley formed by the courses of the three rivers belongs to the Central Plateau . The causse or
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limestone plateau of Quercy occupies the north-east corner of the department and includes its highest point (1634 ft.) . The lowest point (164 ft.) is at the exit of the Garonne .

The

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climate is mild and agreeable; the mean
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annual temperature being about 56° F . Rain falls seldom, but heavily, especially in spring, the annual rainfall being 28 or 30 ins . The wide alluvial valleys of the three large rivers are most productive . Cereals, especially wheat, maize and oats, occupy more than two-thirds of the arable
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land of the department . The vine429 is everywhere cultivated and large quantities of grapes are exported as table fruit . Potatoes are also grown . Plums and apricots are abundant . The breeding of horses, especially for cavalry purposes, is actively carried on; and the rearing of horned cattle, both for draught and for fattening, is also important . Sheep, pigs, poultry and, in a minor degree,
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silk-
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worms, are also
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sources of profit . The manufacturing industry is represented by
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flour-mills, metal-foundries, tanneries, various kinds of silk-mills, and manufactories of
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linen, wool and paper . The
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principal exports are fruit, wine, flour, truffles from the Rouergue, poultry,
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phosphates and litho-graphic stone . Imports include raw materials for textile
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industries,
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timber, iron, wood-pulp,
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coal and agricultural produce .

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canal of the Garonne traverses the department for 48 m. and the Garonne and the Tarn furnish 82 m. of navigable waterway . The department is served by the Orleans and the
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Southern
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railways . The department forms the diocese of Montauban, and belongs to the jurisdiction of the Toulouse court of
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appeal, to the academie (educational division) of Toulouse, and to the district of the XVII. corps d'armee (Toulouse) . It has 3 arrondissements (Montauban, Moissac and Castelsarrasin), 24 cantons and 195 communes . Montauban, Moissac and Castelsarrasin are the principal places . Other towns of
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interest are St Antonin, which has tanneries and manufactures of rough fabrics and is archaeologically important for its possession of a massive hotel de ville of the 12th century, the
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oldest in France; Bruniquel, which is splendidly situated over-looking the valleys of the Aveyron and the Vere, arid is dominated by a
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medieval castle with a donjon of the 11th century; Beaumontde-Lomagne, a curious bastide of the 13th century with a fortified church of the 14th century; Montpezat-de-Quercy, which has a church of the same period, containing many precious antiquities; Varen, an ancient
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town of narrow streets and old houses with a remarkable Romanesque church and the ruins of a castle of the 14th and 15th centuries; and Ginals, where remains of the Cistercian abbey of
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Beaulieu, founded in 1141, are still to be seen .

End of Article: TARN (O. Eng. tame, Scand. tjarn, tjdrn, horn, &c.)
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