A new gardening question of the day appears every day of the year on the front page of Almanac.com. Below is the answer to one of the questions from our Gardening Questions and Answers Archive where you can find over 400 more gardening questions (with answers!).
How was the measurement of an acre of land established?
In the British Imperial and U.S. Customary Systems, an acre was originally a unit of land equal to 43,560 square feet, or 160 square rods. The word is derived from the Latin word ager, meaning "field." The basis for choosing those measurements came from a primitive time when a field or plot was designated by the oxen needed to plow it or the seed needed to sow it. Thus, the Anglo-Saxons defined an acre as a strip of land 1 1/10 furlong, or 40x4 rods (660x66 feet).
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