Different countries have adopted various measures of volume and weight, and often for a Russian person they look rather unusual, because we do not encounter them daily. One such weight unit is a bushel. Where it is used and how much it is - a bushel - in translation to the usual system of measures, you can learn from this article.
Origin of the word
There are two main versions of the etymology of the word "bu". According to one of them, it comes from Old French words meaning "small box" in translation. According to another version, this is also an old French word, but it means another name for another measure of volume - a bot. This unit meant about as much: "how much can be kept in one handful." Accordingly, this measure was significantly less than a modern bushel.
What is a bushel?
Despite the French origin of the name, now a bushel is a measure of the volume of loose bodies used in the British and American measurement system.
However, in its original meaning, a bushel as a measure of weight is used only in the West. So how much is this? A bushel in the USA is 35, 2 liters, which is slightly less than an English bushel, which is part of a complex system of measures. In the UK, one bushel equals four pecks, eight gallons, thirty-two dry quarts, sixty-four pints, and three buckets (this is a much more common measure of weight). Ultimately, an English bushel is 36, 3 liters. However, it began to be used only in 1826, and before in England they used the so-called Winchester bushel - the same one that is now used in the American system of measures.
The earliest standard measures of weight and volume date back to the reign of England in Richard I, that is, to the XII century. Probably the very first vessels were made of wood, therefore, unfortunately, they have not survived to our time. Therefore, the earliest of all preserved standard bushels is made of bronze and dates back to 1497, and the other was made later by order of Elizabeth I. Such vessels were made in order to maximally fine-tune the system of measures and weights, creating the “gold standard”, in this case - bronze. Traditionally, wheat was used to determine the various units of measure: a few grains from the center of the ear weighed as much as a penny, and a few pennies as much as an ounce and so on, to a bushel and larger measures. However, wheat was not the most successful object, because it was often too raw.
If, by simple calculations, the bushel is converted into kg, then it will be equal to about forty-nine kilograms. However, such a translation is not entirely appropriate, since only product volume is measured in bushels.
Where is the bushel used?
This unit of measure is not applicable to liquids, and is mainly needed to measure the volume of various solids, such as cereals or flour. In addition, a bushel is also a box in which apples are transported and stored. In this case, a bushel is approximately thirty-eight kilograms. This unit is accepted in international trade.
By the way, in one of the films of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the character of Barbossa promises the following: “Do you know what I will do when the spell dies? ... I’ll eat a whole bushel of apples!” Now you can imagine what an impressive amount of apples he promised to eat.