Garth Cambray wrote:
> I like the metric concept. Sell honey by the kilogram and I think it
> works out that a jam jar sized bottle is half a kilogram. This is
> easy to work out.
 
The metric system was imposed on us some years ago by a government of
lawyers who also liked its concept. We were promised amazing improvements
in efficiency, simplicity and uniformity in trade.
 
In fact, none of these improvements have materialized. Where we bought
margarine in two lb tubs we now buy it in 907 gm tubs. Tires previously
inflated to 50 lb per square inch are now inflated to 350,000 pascals (
whatever they are). Recently we had a discussion of the caloric costs and
benefits of using gasoline powered vehicles to harvest honey, complicated
by the confusion as to whether the inputs were in Calories or calories,
the latter being 1000 times smaller. The newspapers tell us that forest
fires are destroying thousands of square hectares (are there other
shapes?) of forest daily. Where I used to use a teaspoon of terramyacin
per gallon of syrup, I am now supposed to use 5ml per 4.5 liters.
 
Industries are far better off left to decide what sort of measurements
they like to use for their products. If the metric system offers
significant advantages, it will be adopted. If it doesn't, we will be
spared the enormous silliness of scrapping perfectly satisfactory
equipment to satisfy a bureaucrat's longing for uniformity.
 
 
 
 
 
Donald Aitken 11710-129 Street Edmonton Alberta Canada T5M 0Y7