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If and when you need such information, this online venue may not pop into mind as a likely reference; it's better to know where to look up this type of obscure data. The Old Farmer's Almanac is a treasure trove of such arcana. If you don't have a copy handy, but you do have internet access, remember Google.com's calculator function. In the "search" input field, type, for example, "1 bushel in gallons". It comes back with "1 US bushel = 9.30917793 US gallons".

If on the other hand you want weights, you type in "1 bushel in pounds", and instead of
the calculator output, you'll get links to various websites. The first is (surprise!) that of the Old Farmer's Almanac, and the link summary shows: "60 pounds apples = 1 bushel 52 pounds beans = 1 bushel 24 pounds beets = 1 bushel 56 pounds carrots = 1 bushel 55 pounds flour = 1 bushel ..."; follow (click on, for most people) the link, and you'll see the full text of the page. Who would have thought, for example, that a firkin was 9 gallons? And whose butt is 126 gallons? Hope I never run into him.

And at 84 gallons, I don't think I could ever consume a puncheon at a luncheon, generally limiting myself to 3 bottles of beer.

Learn more about this author, John Comeau.
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