Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1910 — ORIGIN OF THE ROD. [ARTICLE]

ORIGIN OF THE ROD.

L'ao4 la DHrlaa Oxaa, l< Cam* iiandr in Maaaartaar Unt The origin of the rod, pole or perch aa a lineal and superficial measure has been traced to the rod. pole or goad used to urge and direct a team of oxen putting a plow.' So It came about It was used aa a convenient and handy land measure In feudal times by the lords In allotting plots of land for agricultural purposes to the villeins and others. One rod wide and forty long (L e.. one furrow long, dee pi built up a quarter of an acre. The furlong, or four poles wide and same depth— l. e. forty poles, one acre—was a convenient length for a furrow before turning the plow. Of course these lengths somewhat varied In different parts of the country where soils and agriculture varied, but gradually the slight variations grew leas and Anally the

present accepted statutory acre waa evolved. Gunter’s chain of sixty-six feet (ten square chains to the acre) was Invented by Rev. Edmund Gunter (15811628). He waa a professor of astronomy at Gresham Collage, London, and Ingeniously adapted It to facilitate decimal calculations in land measurements. The use of the rod in superficial measurements of brick work and lineally In hedges, ditches and fences followed as a convenient existing measure.—Builders* Journal.