In France, 13ᵗʰ –19ᵗʰ centuries, the chief measure of dry capacity, varying greatly from place to place. By an act of 1670, the nationally-standardized measure of a boisseau was a cylinder 8 pouces 2.5 lignes high and 10 pouces in diameter (13.008 liters). In Paris: . In Rouen:
.
The Système Usuel, (1812 – 1839), assigned the boisseau the value 12.5 liters.
In Belgium, a unit of capacity, 15 liters (about 1.70 U.S. pecks).
In the French departments of Aisne, Bouches-du-Rhône, Marne, and Oise, the boisseau was also a unit of land area, varying from 100 to 500 square meters. See seed measures of land.
Copyright © 2000, 2001 Sizes, Inc. All rights reserved.
Last revised: 13 June 2007.