WEIGHTS. 



And 1 08 folid feet, that is, 12 feet m length, 3 feet in 

 breadth, and 3 deep, or commonly 14 feet long, 3 feet 

 I inch broad, and 3 feet i inch deep, are a ftack of wood. 



And 128 fohd feet, that is, 8 feet long, 4 feet broad, 

 and 4 feet deep, are a cord of wood. 



In Coal Meajure. 

 make 



4 Pecks 



3 Bufhels . . . 



12 Sacks, or 36 bufhels - 



21 Chaldrons - - - 



I Load of corn 

 I Laft of ditto 



In Corn Meajure. 

 makes 



I Bufliel 

 I Sack 

 I Chaldron 

 I Score 



5 Bufhels 

 43 Do. 



It is enafted by 31 George III., that a Winchefter 

 bufhel of corn fhould weigh as follows : 



lb. 



Wheat 57 avoirdupois, Wheat meal 56 "1 Flour, 451b. of 

 ~ " "■ 48 I which fhould be 



Barley 49 

 Bigg 42 

 Oats 38 

 Rye s-i 



Flour 

 Ditto 



41 \ equal to a Win- 

 32 I chefter bufhel 

 SZ J ungrouiid. 



After thefe ftatements of the different weights and mea- 

 fures which are in common ufe for different forts of pro- 

 duce, it may not be improper to notice fome of the dif- 

 ferences of weights and meafures, as they exifl in different 

 diftrifts, towns, and parts of the kingdom, according to 

 the account which has been given of them, and as they are 

 injurious to the farmer. 



In the counties or dillrifts near the metropolis, the 

 ftatute meafures are pretty commonly employed, though 

 there are many irregularities and deviations ; but in thofe 

 at fome diflance there are more frequent and remarkable 

 variations and differences. 



In the county of Middlefex, the weights and meafures 

 made ufe of are moflly thofe of the flandard legal kind, and 

 confequently the variations in them are but little. 



Wood is fold by the ftack, as packed three feet by 

 three, and twelve feet long, containing in this manner 108 

 cubical feet. , 



EfTex is now pretty much in the fame flate as above, 

 in regard to its weights and meafures, though formerly they 

 varied very greatly, wheat being fold either by weight or 

 raeafure, as agreed upon. The meafure then eight gallons 

 and a half the bufhel ; and the weight, that ufually termed 

 the peck weight, or the medium of what eight and a half 

 of good wheat would weigh. 



Then all other forts of grain were fold by meafure, but 

 by that which was very different in different places, and for 

 different forts, the bufhel of barley, malt, oats, &c. being 

 often nine gallons ; others eight and a half, and eight and 

 three pints, &c. There are ftill fome remains of thefe 

 meafures in the county. Various articles, too, are ftill 

 fold there by the tale, the dozen, the fcore, and the hun- 

 dred of fix fcore, fuch as hop-poles, faggots, &c. 



The writer of the Berkfhire Agricultural Report re- 

 marks, that, notwithftanding the fines and forfeitures at- 

 tached to felling corn by any other than the ftandard buftiel, 

 and the obvious ill confequences refulting from the praftice 

 without one counterbalancing advantage, that county, hke 

 moft others, has its diverfity of meafures, which only en- 

 courages jobbers, to the prejudice of the grower of corn ; 

 who, influenced by habit, does not always take into con- 

 fideration, that if he fhould fell nine gallons inftead of eight 

 12 



to the bufhel, he is giving a bufhel in every quarter of grain 

 more than the laws allow, or juftice requires, and that the 

 dealer is probably making that proportion of profit, out of 

 bis ignorance or obftinacy. 



The owners of land cannot, therefore, more effeftually 

 ferve their tenants, it is fuppofed, than by exerting them- 

 felves to introduce an uniformity of meafure in their re- 

 fpeftive neighbourhoods. 



The nine-gallon bufhel prevails in fome parts of the 

 county, but in others the ftandard. At Faringdon and 

 Wantage, the former is almoft exclufively ufed ; but at 

 Abingdon both it and the ftandard bufhel are employed. 

 The former is the cuflom of the market, however, unlefs 

 the contrary be fpecified ; but malt fold out of the town 

 is only eight gallons meafure. 



Corn is commonly fold by the load of five quarters. In 

 building, liedging, and ditching, the perch or pole of 

 eighteen feet is the ufual meafure. 



Wood is fold by the foot, and load-underwood by the 

 cord, in fome places abfurdly called a load, and by the 

 proper load. 



Befides the ftatute acre, there are alfo common field acres, 

 which are fometimes more, and fometimes lefs, than the 

 ftatute. 



In weights the diverfity is great in moft places. 



In the county of Suffex, the weights and meafures moft 

 commonly ufed are, the pound, ftone, acre, load, bufhel, 

 &c. There are feveral forts of acres, which are a great 

 fource of perplexity and confufion — the fhort acre, the 

 ftatute acre, the foreft acre, and various others : the foreft 

 acre is nine fcore rods ; the ftatute, eight fcore ; and 

 the fhort acre, fix fcore in fome places, in others five 

 fcore. The ftranger, unaware of the variations that pre- 

 vail in the weights and meafures, is, it is faid, liable to fall 

 into miftakes in every ftep he takes ; and that until a 

 radical reform is brought to bear, the prefent confufion in 

 buving and felhng muft prevail, and the honeft and unfuf- 

 petling will be taken in by the crafty and defigning. 



In the other fouthern diftrifts or counties, the variations 

 in their weights and meafures are mucli the fame, though 

 lefs than in thofe of the north. 



It is ftated in the Gloucefter Report on Agriculture, that 

 in the market of that town, the bufhel varies from nine to 

 ten gallons j in the foreft diftrift it is nearly ten gallons ; 

 on the Cotfwolds about nine; in the vale nine and a half; 

 and in the lower vale, and at Cirencefter, nine and a quart, 

 of all forts of grain. 



Near Briftol, potatoes, green peas, &c. are fold by the 

 double peck, containing two common ones ftruck level 

 with the top ; while at Gloucefter, and higher up the 

 vale, it is a common peck heaped up. Wool is generally 

 fold by the ftone weight of i2|lbs., or the tod of 285lbs. 

 Butter often by the pound of 18 oz. ; and the quart of 

 about 3lbs. 



In Herefordfhire the peculiar weiglits and meafures 

 which are at prefent in ufe are thefe, according to the Sur- 

 vey on Agriculture for that diftridl. 



I Pound of frefh butter 



1 Stone 



I Cuftomai-y acre - 



1 Hop acre - 



Lugg 



18 Ounces 

 12 Pounds 

 f Of a ftatute acre 

 That fpace of ground 

 which contains 1000 

 plants ; w'z. about \ 

 a ftatute acre 

 49 Square yards of cop- 

 pice-wood 



Wood 



