This section is from the book "A Manual Of Home-Making", by Martha Van Rensselaer. Also available from Amazon: A Manual of Home-Making.
A nest of dry measures holding from 1/2 bushel to 1 quart may be necessary, although the growing tendency is to sell dry commodities by weight. The weight of a bushel of certain common dry commodities, as fixed by law in certain states, is given on page 162. Dry measures should be of metal, or of well-varnished wood with a metal band around the top, or of some similar and suitable material. They should preferably be cylindrical. If they are conical, the top diameter should exceed the bottom diameter by an amount not greater than 10 per cent of the bottom diameter. The diameters should in no case be less than the following:
For 1/2 bushel................................13 3/4 inches
For 1 peck.................................1C 7/8 inches
For 1/2 peck................................8V2 inches
For two quarts............................. 6 5/8 inches
For 1 quart................................ 5 3/8 inches
For 1 pint.................................. 4 inches
For measuring length, a yardstick and a tape 3 or 6 feet in length are recommended.
 
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