A peck is an
imperial and
United States customary unit of
dry volume,
equivalent to 8 dry
quart
The quart (symbol: qt) is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon. Three kinds of quarts are currently used: the liquid quart and dry quart of the US customary system and the of the British imperial system. All are roughly equal ...
s or 16 dry
pints. An imperial peck is equivalent to 9.09218
liters and a US customary peck is equivalent to 8.80976754172 liters. Four pecks make a
bushel
A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...
. Although the peck is no longer widely used, some
produce
In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...
, such as
apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
s, are still often sold by the peck in the U.S. (although it is obsolete in the UK, found only in the old nursery rhyme "
Peter Piper" and in the Bible – e.g.,
Matthew 5:15 in some older translations).
Scotland before 1824
In
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, the peck was used as a dry measure until the introduction of imperial units as a result of the
Weights and Measures Act 1824. The peck was equal to about 9
litre
The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A ...
s (1.98 Imp gal) (in the case of certain crops, such as wheat, peas, beans and meal) and about 13 litres (2.86 Imp gal) (in the case of barley, oats and malt). A
firlot was equal to 4 pecks.
Conversions
See also
*
Bushel
A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...
*
Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
*
Winchester measure
References
{{United States Customary Units
Units of volume
Customary units of measurement in the United States
Imperial units
Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
Obsolete units of measurement
eo:Buŝelo