- Sections :
- More
Bissell Buzz
I love you, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck… implies a great amount of love. But where
does the measure of a bushel come from?
In the Bible reference is made to a bushel, but in fact in the original Greek text, the word used was
related to “seah”, Hebrew for a rather smaller dry measure that held about a gallon and a half. The King
James translators chose “bushel”, because it would be more obvious to people of their day. Later
translations however reverted to basket, bowl or measuring basket.
The term bushel has roots in the Old French word boissel, which likely derived from boisse, a Gaulish
term for a wooden container. The use of the bushel dates back to medieval England, where it became an
important unit under the British Imperial system. The British standardized the bushel in the Winchester
measure, setting it as 8 gallons. Originally bushel was a volume measurement, but the weight
equivalents were made official in order to facilitate trade with the rest of the world, as international
grain trade is conducted by weight.
When the United States adopted its customary system of measurement, it inherited many of the same
units used in Britain—including the bushel—but gradually established its own definitions. A bushel of
top-grade wheat equals 60 pounds or approximately 1 million wheat kernels. A common semi-truck
grain hopper can hold approximately one thousand bushels of wheat, or 60,000 pounds in a single load.
Kansas as America’s Breadbasket, produces a lot of bushels of wheat. According to the USDA, Kansas
farmers typically harvest 37.5 bushels per acre, based on the ten-year average. Compare this to August
1884 when the average yield reported for the state of Kansas was a mere 22.28 bushels per acre.
Each bushel of hard red winter (HRW) wheat has the potential to become a great tasting loaf of bread,
box of cereal, tortilla or any number of tasty wheat foods products. But first those bushels of wheat
kernels must be milled into flour. Wheat may become white flour or whole wheat flour. Whole wheat
flour includes all three parts of the wheat kernel – bran, germ and endosperm – while white flour only
includes the endosperm. One bushel of wheat will yield approximately 42 pounds of white flour. In
contrast, one bushel will yield approximately 60 pounds of whole wheat flour. One bushel yields enough
flour to make 70 one-pound loaves of white bread or 90 one-pound loaves of whole-wheat bread.
Different commodities have different weights per bushel. Wheat is 60 pounds, compared to corn 56
pounds, oats 32 pounds and barley 48 pounds. And where does a peck fit in as a unit of measure? One
peck is one quarter of a bushel, which makes one bushel equal 4 pecks!
While bushels have historically been and continue to be used in some countries, particularly in
agriculture and commodity trading, they are not a universally adopted unit of measurement by the rest
of the world. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional units of
measurement to the metric system. This process began in France during the 1790s, and has persistently
advanced over two centuries, accumulating into 95% of the world officially only using the modern
metric system. To convert bushels to metric tons, 36.743 bushels will give you one metric ton.
Kansas Pioneers would fill a bushel basket and level it off, using a flat piece of wood or a "striker" to
make sure they weren't over or under-measuring. Although the process has changed, the bushel’s
staying power is a testament to the deep-rooted traditions in American farming and the infrastructure
built around this unit. While the term "bushel" may sound old-fashioned, it continues to serve as a
cornerstone in modern agriculture. From the field to the trading floor, this age-old unit bridges tradition
with today’s high-tech farming. As long as farmers are growing grain and markets are trading it, the
bushel isn't going anywhere — and understanding it remains vital for anyone interested in food,
farming, or finance.
On Friday we had a delightful time with Becky Lanier reading her book “Sammy – The Sand Shark’s Lost
Teeth”. Her husband James (Jim), who features in the book as the Fish Dentist, was also there and
demonstrated with his little sifter how he looks for shark teeth at the beach in Florida. He also had a
whole array of shark teeth on display, all of which he had found on the Amelia Island beach in Florida.
Connie Cox had an ocean theme with her cupcakes and other eats, which also made our intern James’s
birthday special.
Looking forward to seeing you at the Fort. A reminder of our hours:
Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm
Saturdays 9am to 2pm
Ruby Wiehman – Curator
