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U. S. dry gallon

A unit of dry capacity equal to 4 U.S. dry quarts or ¹⁄₈th of a U.S. bushel, = 268.8 cubic inches (about liters), on the model of the British imperial gallon and imperial bushel. In law this unit is always called a half peck.

Other sources, even Connecticut state law, define it as 282 cubic inches, exactly the size of the old English ale gallon, which would give it no integral relationship to the other U.S. dry measures. This is a legislative error. To quote the U.S. Bureau of Standards, in reprinting the Connecticut state law:

The words “The dry gallon shall contain two hundred and eighty-two cubic inches” have been omitted since this apparently conflicts with sec. 2304 of the General Statutes, which provides that “The weights and measures received from the United States * * * shall be the State standards,” as the National Government has never recognized or authorized the dry gallon mentioned above.

U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Standards.
Federal and State Laws Relating to Weights and Measures. Third Edition.
William Parry, revisor.
Miscellaneous Publication No. 20.
Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1926.
Footnote, page 141.