Volume 16 , Issue 32

1890 Capital Almanac - Odd Measurements

In the 1890 Capital Almanac we found these interesting little tidbits of information, on page 32, concerning "Odd Measurements." They consisted of a dicker, ditto, tod, firkin, pipe and measuring cisterns (round and square).

• A Dicker of hides, 10 skins.
• Ditto of gloves, 10 dozen pairs.
• A Last of hides, 20 dickers.
• A weigh of cheese, 256lb.
• A Pocket of hops, average weight about 1 1/2 ewt. to 2 ewt.
• A Bag of hops, nearly 3 1/2 ewt.
• Flour, peck, 14lb.
• Flour, boll of 10 pecks, 140lb
• Flour, sack of 2 bolls, 280lb.
• Flour, barrel, 196lb.
• 8 gallons, a bushel of corn.
• 3 bushels of corn, a quarter.
• A last of corn, 10 quarters, or 80 bushels.
• Ditto of potash, cod fish, meal, pitch, and tar, 12 barrels.
• Ditto of flax and feathers, 17 ewt.; of gun powder, 24 barrels, or 2400lb.; of wool, 4568lb.
• A ton in wight is 20 ewt. of iron, &c.; but in lead there is 19 1/2 eat., called a fodder, which is 2184lb.
• A tod of wool is 28 pounds.
• A pack of ditto, 240 pounds.
• 4lb avoirdupois is equal to alb troy, nearly.
• A firkin of butter, 56lb.
• A pipe of port, 115 imperial gallons.
• A pipe of Lisbon, 117 imperial gallons.
• A pipe of Maderia, 92 gallons.
• A pipe of Teneriffe, 100 imperial gallons.
• A quintal of fish is 100lbs.
• A load of bricks, 500, and plain tiles 1000.
• Diamonds are weighted by Carats, 151-1/2 to one ounce troy.
• Nails, tacks, &c., have 120 to the ewt.
• A solid yard of well-wrought clay will make 160 bricks. Thirty-two common bricks cover a square yard. A common brick must not be more than 9 inches long, 4-1/2 inches wide and 2-1/2 inch thick.
• Sheet lead is from alb to 10lb to the square foot. A pipe of an inch bore is commonly 13lb to 14lb to the yard in length.

How To Measure A Tree

To measure the height of a tree, mark two lines on the ground 3 feet apart. Plant a stick on the line nearest the sun, exactly three feet in height. When the end of the shadow of the stick reaches exactly its furthest line, the shadow of the tree will measure its exact height.

Measuring Cisterns

Square - Multiply the length in feet by the width in feet, and multiply that by 1.728, then divide by 231. The quotient will be the number of gallons capacity of one foot in depth.

Round - Multiply the square of the diameter by, 7854, or the square of the circumference by .07958, in order to find the area of the cistern, then multiply the area by the depth in inches, and divide the product by 231. The quotient will equal the number of gallons the cistern will contain.

In measuring cisterns, etc., 31-1/2 gallons are estimated to one barrel; 63 gallons to one hogshead.

The following Table gives the number of Barrels contained between the walls for each foot in depth:

Square:
5 feet by 5 feet holds ... 5.93 barrels.
6 feet by 6 feet holds ... 8.54 barrels.
7 feet by 7 feet holds ... 11.63 barrels.
8 feet by 8 feet holds ... 15.19 barrels.
9 feet by 9 feet holds ... 19.23 barrels.
10 feet by 10 feet holds ... 23.74 barrels.

Round:
5 feet in diameter holds ... 4.66 barrels.
6 feet in diameter holds ... 6.70 barrels.
7 feet in diameter holds ... 9.13 barrels.
8 feet in diameter holds ... 11.93 barrels.
9 feet in diameter holds ... 15.10 barrels.
10 feet in diameter holds ... 18.65 barrels
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