88 CLOVER CULTURE. 



In the state of Iowa in 1889, there were not less than one 

 hundred cases of spontaneous combustion, all having the same 

 general features, and for some reason the large majority of 

 them, in fact, all with a few exceptions, occurring in the 

 north part of the state. Was it because the farmers in that 

 part of the state had less experience in curing clover hay, and 

 hence cured it too green, or was it because the low plant life 

 which is the cause of the heating in clover hay and other for- 

 age was more abundant in that section than in other parts 

 of the West? 



Mr. J. W. Bopp, of Hawkeye, Iowa, who investigated 

 nearly fifty cases of spontaneous combustion, reported that in 

 all cases they occurred when the hay was in bays over twenty 

 feet deep. In all, or at least nearly all the instances, ttie hay 

 was put in damp, either from rain or dew, or with wet bunches 

 interspersed, the result of attempting to cure a heavy crop 

 without the use of the tedder. In most cases into which we 

 have enquired, the hay was placed on timbers that furnished 

 an opportunity for the moderately free access of air underneath. 

 In one notable case at Marshalltown, Iowa, a stack put up 

 when the hay was in bad condition, took fire and burned. 

 Horses running in the field had eaten well into the sides, for 

 some reason preferring this stack to other stacks in the same 

 enclosure, that were put up in the best condition. In the 

 Homestead, of February 5, 1889, Mr. Luman Edwards, of 

 Henry county, Illinois, reported two cases occurring in 1886, 

 one at Cambridge, and the other at Kewanee, of that state. 

 Since the public agitation of this subject, we have received 

 numerous letters from farmers, notably from Englishmen, 

 giving their experience both in America and in Europe, all 

 corroborating the facts already stated. The only wonder is, 

 that the theory of the scientists, that spontaneous combus- 

 tion of clover hay was impossible, had not been utterly ex- 

 ploded long ago. In the light of the facts above given it is 

 utterly untenable. Since the numerous cases of spontaneous 

 combustion in Iowa and elsewhere have occurred, the subject 

 has been investigated by Prof. Burrell, of the University of 

 Illinois. His conclusions are as follows: 



"In the first place, it may be said that spontaneous combustion is 

 certainly and definitely known to occur in some substances. One of the 

 requisites in. most cases for this is that substance shall be in a state of 

 minute subdivision, in order that a very great surface may be presented 

 for oxygenation, and that the slowly accumulated heat shall not be car- 

 ried away by conduction. Thus oils containing a large portion of hydro- 

 gen, like common lubricating oil, have no tendency to ignite at ordinary 

 temperatures when kept in bulk, but when cotton waste is smeared with 



