1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
109 
Wire Fences. 
In the last number of The Cultivator , A. B. at¬ 
tacks a statement, which gave strictly the results 
of ten years’ experience with a wire fence. He 
commits the most singular error of entirely overlook¬ 
ing one of the first principles of mechanics, in his 
calculations. A little more modesty of manner 
would perhaps have been better, in thus deciding on 
the experiments of another. 
In order to make the subject plain, it may be best 
to go into a little explanation. Suppose the wire, 
a b, ten feet long, is stretched so that a pressure 
against it sidewise, bending it three inches from a 
straight line, would snap it. Would the force thus 
required to break it, be as great as if the wire were 
drawn lengthwise? According to A. B.’s reason¬ 
ing, the force in either case w r ould be equal; but 
according to experiment and mathematical reason¬ 
ing, the side pressure would be only about ONE 
TWENTY-FIFTH of the force required to draw it 
asunder lengthwise. Therefore, if a number 10 
wire will sustain a longitudinal stress of 1500 pounds, 
as stated by Engineer Ellet, then a side pressure 
of more than 60 pounds would break it, if stretched 
as stated above. 
For, in the action of all mechanical powers and 
forces, as every one perhaps knows, whatever is 
lost in distance is gained in power. But in pres¬ 
sing the wire three inches aside, it is drawn only 
about an eighth of an inch in length; consequently 
the force exerted, moving 25 times as far, is increased 
25 times in power. 
The dotted lines, a c, b c, show the position of 
the wire -when pressed aside. If the wire were di¬ 
vided into two equal parts at the middle, the two 
ends would form the two curves d c. The sines of 
these curves would be the distance moved by the side 
pressure; and their versed sines, (bearing a very 
small proportion to them, but varying with the dis¬ 
tance of the side pressure,) would show the actual 
increase in length in snapping the wire. 
In all the different modes of constructing wire 
fences, it will be observed that effort is made to 
stretch the wire straight, which increases their lia¬ 
bility to be broken, as shown above. I have seen a 
wire, strong enough to bear a draught lengthwise 
of 500 pounds, broken like burnt flax by a half year’s 
calf, after the wire was stretched with the moderate 
strength of a man. A rod of iron, one-third of an 
inch in diameter, w r ill bear a force lengthwise of 
nearly three tons weight; but when slightly stretch¬ 
ed, I have seen such a rod broken by the bounding 
of a large steer against it. 
Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural Society. 
The annual meeting of this Society was held at 
the Rooms of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, 
Feb. 6, 1850. Joel Rathbone, Esq., who had 
been the presiding officer of the society since its or¬ 
ganization, declined being a candidate for re-elec¬ 
tion. The officers elected for the current year, are 
Y. P. Douw, of Greenbush, President; E. P. Pren¬ 
tice, Mt. Hope, Herman Wendell, Albany, Stephen 
E. Warren, Troy, Amos Briggs, Schaghticoke, 
Vice-Presidents; B. P. Johnson, Albany, Secretary; 
Luther Tucker, Albany, Treasurer. 
The exhibition on this occasion, was not large, 
— 1 •— i> 
on account of the severity of the weather—the mercu¬ 
ry having been several degrees below zero; but there 
was, nevertheless, a tolerable show of fruits and ve¬ 
getables, and a highly interesting display of plants 
and flowers—several of the specimens being new 
and in fine perfection. Messrs. Rathbone, Douw, 
Menand and Wilson, presented handsome collections 
of several kinds of plants. Mr. Wilson showed 
many varieties of Camellia Japonica, among which 
was the new seedling Abby Wilder , raised by Col. 
M. P. "Wilder, Boston. The specimen exhibited, 
fully supported the high encomiums that have been 
bestowed upon it, and by unanimous consent, it w T as 
placed first among many fine kinds brought out on 
this occasion. 
An herbarium, comprising upwards of one hun¬ 
dred specimens of plants, beautifully preserved, was 
offered for exhibition by Miss Eliza Cary, of Alba¬ 
ny. It attracted much attention and high praise. 
Messrs. Prentice, Morgan, Wendell, Gould, and 
others, each exhibited several varieties of apples. 
Dr. Wendell also showed samples of the Inconnue 
Yan Mons pear. Joseph Cary showed excellent 
specimens of Isabella grapes. J. S. Gould exhib¬ 
ited vei’y fine specimens of cauliflowers, which had 
been formed, chiefly, after the plants were dug, 
last fall, and planted in the cellar. 
Kirtland Pear. 
{Syn. Kirtland’s Seedling, Seedling Seckel.) 
One of the finest of all the new American pears, 
is the variety lately introduced to notice by Prof. J. 
P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, Ohio, and raised from 
the seed of the Seckel in 1819, by H. T. Kirtland, 
of Mahoning Co., Ohio. The fruit was exhibited 
The Kirtland Pear. 
at the fair of the N. Y. State Ag. Society held at 
Buffalo in 1848, from a specimen of which the ac¬ 
companying figure and description were drawn. A 
colored figure appears in the Proceedings of the 
North American Pomological Convention, lately 
published. 
Description. Size medium; form roundish-obo- 
vate, regular; nearly the whole surface a rich cin- 
