WEIGHTS. 



of corn-meters is fuch, that it is alTerted they can gain 

 either to the buyer or feller from lo to 20 per cent, in dif- 

 ferent modes of meafurement ; that 5 per cent, can be ob- 

 tained by this praftice, by even bunglers in the bufinefs : 

 this is an enormous profit, and the unfairnefs of fuch prac- 

 tices merits the fevereft reprehenfion. 



That at Prefton the windle of wheat, beans, and barley, 

 is three and a half Winchefter bulhels ; but of late 22olbs. 

 have been reckoned a windle of wheat : they have alfo a 

 meafure there caUed a peck, which is twenty-eight quarts, 

 four of which are called a windle. 



In refpeft to weights, there are three different ones ex- 

 prefled under the general term hundred weight ; namely, 

 loolbs., ii2lbs., and i2olbs. The ftone, too, varies. In 

 Liverpool, 2olbs. are the weight allowed for the feveral 

 articles under that denomination, as beef, hay, ftraw, &c. ; 

 and probably all the articles produced from land. And 

 butter is required to weigh 18 ounces avoirdupois, or it 

 may be feized by the magiitrates. 



At Lancafter, and the neighbourhood, they have feveral 

 different, weights, as the Lancafter peck, of twenty-four 

 quarts ; the common peck, of fixteen quarts ; the half Win- 

 chefter ; the windle, of three and a half bufhels ; the met, 

 of fifty-fix quarts ; the ackendale, or ackentyde, the eighth 

 part of the above, or feven quarts, and the meafure of four 

 quarts. The load of malt is fix buihels. 



Butter eighteen ounces to the pound ; other articles 

 fixteen. 



There are alfo different local variations in many articles. 



In Weftmoreland, the pound confifts of twelve, fixteen, 

 eighteen, or twenty-one ounces ; and the ftone of fourteen, 

 fixteen, or twenty pounds. There is alfo a Winchefter 

 bufhel, a cuftomary buftiel equal to three of thefe, a bu(hel 

 of two bufhels for the fale of potatoes near Appleby, and 

 one of two and a half for that of barley. Rye is fold by 

 the boll of two buftiels, and potatoes by the load of four 

 bufliels and a half heaped ; or more generally a bag, which 

 holds feven and a half buftiels, is filled and fold for a load 

 of potatoes. 



There is the ftatute acre, too, of 4840 fquare yards, the 

 cuftomary acre of 6760 raifed from the perch of fix and 

 a half yards, and a third acre on the borders of Lancafliire, 

 raifed from the perch of feven yards, containing 7840, 

 being the fame as the Irifh plantation acre. 



It is remarked, likewife, in the Cumberland Report on 

 Agriculture, that the fame confufion in weights and mea- 

 fures prevails there, as in many other parts of the kingdom. 



That a Winchefter bufhel is thirty-two quarts ; a Car- 

 lifle bufhel, ninety-fix quarts ; and a Penrith bufhel, fixty- 

 four quarts, for wheat and rye ; and eighty quarts, for 

 barley, oats, and potatoes. 



That a ftone of tallow, wool, yarn, or hay, is i61bs. ; 

 and a ftone of butcher's meat I4lbs., but in many places 

 l61bs. 



That the pound is fixteen ounces, by which butter and 

 various other articles are weighed. 



The writers of the Account of Agriculture for Nor- 

 thumberland, ftate that their weights and meafures are in a 

 fad ftate of confufion ; a pound, a ftone, a buftiel, and a 

 boll, are rarely the fame in different markets, and frequently 

 vary in the fame market for different articles. 



4 Bentments 

 2 Pecks - 

 2 Kennings 

 2 BufheU - 



yit Ncwcajlle. 

 make 



^t Hexham, lu'ith Rye and Peaf, 

 4 Quarts make 1 Forpit 



4 Forpits - - - - I Peck 



4 Pecks . - - - I Bufhel 

 2 Bufhels - - - - 1 Boll = 4 Winchef- 

 ter bufhels. 

 For Oats and Barley. 



4 Quarts make i Forpit 



5 Forpits - - - - I Peck 

 4 Pecks ... - I Buihel 



2 Buftiels ... I Boll = 5 buftieU 



Winchefter. 

 At Alnwick. 



I Peck 



I Kenning 



I Buftiel, Winchefter 



I BoU. 



That a ftone of wool in fome parts is 24lbs. ; in others> 

 i8!bs. ; and a ftone of every other article is !4lbs. 



As the weights and meafures made ufe of in Scotland' 

 differ very materially from thofe employed in England, it 

 ma}', of courfe, not be ufelefs to give a curfory view of them 

 under the prefent head. It has been obferved by Mr. 

 Som.erville, in his Account of the Agriculture of Eaft 

 Lothian, that land is meafured by the Scotch acre, which 

 is to the EngUfh acre very nearly in the proportion of five- 

 to four. 



That the boll is the denomination of corn meafure. always- 

 ufed, but the contents vary according to the fpecies of 

 grain meafured. But that there are uniformly four firlots 

 in the boll of all grain ; but the firlot differs in fize in the 

 proportion of 21, 25, to 31. Wheat, rye, beans, and 

 peas, are fold by the fmall firlot ; malt, barley, and oats, 

 are fold by the large one. Four fmall firlots are 4.087276 

 Winchefter bufhels ; four large ones are 5.96263 bufhels 

 Winchefter. The boll of wheat then is a fmall fraftion 

 more than half a quarter; and the boll of barley, a fraftion 

 lefs than three-fourths of a quarter. But this calculation- 

 applies, it muft be remembered, to the Linlithgow boll, 

 which is accounted the ftandard meafure of Scotland : the 

 meafure aiftually ufed in Eaft Lothian is fomewhat larger. 



In the Mid-Lothian Report on Agriculture, it is ftated, 

 that flour, pot-barley, groceries, iron, and ropes, are bought 

 and fold there, by what is termed Englifh weight, being 

 16 oz. to the pound, and l61bs. to the ftone. But that 

 butcher's meat, oatmeal, and flax, are bought and fold by 

 wliat is called Dutch weight, of which the proportion to 

 the Enghfh is as ly-j to 16. 



That wool, hay, and butter, are bought and fold by 

 trone weight, of which the proportion is to the Englifh, as- 

 22 to 16. That other articles are bought and fold by 

 either of thefe v/eights, as it may happen. 



But that in long meafiu-e the inch is t!e root, of which 

 12 go to the foot, and 37 to the Scotch yard. 



And that land is meafured by a chain 24 yards in 

 length, or 74 feet, divided into 100 hnks, of 8.888 inches, 

 each in length ; 10 fquare chains make an acre, or 5760 

 fquare yards Scotch, 'equal to 6084.444 Enghfh ; and aa 



the 



