UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 1065 
s\J?' < $Wu 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
May 18, 1922 
THE TEST WEIGHT OF GRAIN: A SIMPLE 
METHOD OF DETERMINING THE ACCU- 
RACY OF THE TESTING APPARATUS. 
By E. G. Boerner, In Charge of Grain Investigations, and E. H. Ropes, 
formerly Specialist in Grain Investigations. 
Test weight per bushel and appa- 
ratus for taking it 
Variations in making weight-per- 
bushel determinations 
Special points to observe in making 
correct weight-per-bushel tests 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Method of determining accuracy of 
test kettle 
Method of determining accuracy and 
sensitiveness of beam 
Page. 
11 
TEST WEIGHT PER BUSHEL AND APPARATUS FOR TAKING IT. 
The " test weight per bushel " is one of the governing factors in 
assigning grades to grain. It is therefore highly essential that the 
" test weight " be accurately determined, as it affects market values. 
The "weight-per-bushel tester," shown in figure 1 and described 
in United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 472, was 
designed by the Department of Agriculture to provide means by 
which the " test weight per bushel " of grain might be rapidly and 
accurately determined. This apparatus and the method of use there 
described have been adopetd as the standard apparatus and method 
in connection with the enforcement of the United States grain 
standards Act. 
The term " test weight per bushel " as applied to grain is a grading 
designation used in the official grain standards promulgated by the 
Secretary of Agriculture under authority of the United States grain 
standards Act. The meaning of the term " test weight per bushel " 
should not be confused with the meaning of the term " legal bushel," 
which is used in connection with the X T nited States customs and for 
commercial purposes, as these two terms are fundamentally different 
in meaning. Test weight per bushel is the weight of the volume of 
88252°— 22 
