CULnVATION OF COTTON. 
101 
quering will. He must be trained in the school of experi- 
ence. He must know " the times and the seasons " of the 
cotton plant. He must study its wants, watch its growth, 
notice its developments, and give direction to his hands to 
work precisely in accordance with his orders. 
A kind Providence has placed all things under law. 
All the ordinances of Nature are the laws of God. If man 
obeys them, be will be blessed in natural advantages and 
privileges. If he disobey, he will suffer punishment. And 
all this natural administration of affairs is entirely independ- 
ent of moral character. True, the moral and the natural 
do not come in conflict; they are harmonious, coming 
from the same Author. But we mean that moral goodness, 
disregarding natural law, will never make a cotton crop ; 
and still further, that well-directed industry, conforming to 
the laws of cotton growth, will make a cotton crop, whether 
the planter be a saint or a sinner. 
We are strono- advocates of natural as well as moral 
Providence. " God sends his rain on the just and on the un- 
just." He has ordained seasons, soils, climates, and zones 
of vegetation. He has endowed men with the capacity to 
study the history, habits, wants, necessities, and demands 
of every plant on the globe, and to determine their respec- 
tive utility. 
If man's labor harmonize with Nature's ordinances, the 
labor will prove a success. If the labor come in collision 
with Nature, it must prove a failure. Oranges cannot be 
cultivated in the frigid zone, and the polar bear cannot be 
trained to live in the torrid zone. Nature forbids it. So, 
too, with regard to our mighty and influential plant. It 
must be treated in accordance with its nature. It must be 
planted and cultivated in a soil and under a climate 
adapted to its physical constitution ; and he who dares to 
