The dry seasons suited the soil of the estate, and the machinery he had purchased was rapidly repaying its first cost in the saving of labour.

His whole system was succeeding, and he saw his way to realise his cent.

per cent.
But by degrees the dream faded.

He attributed it in the first place to the stagnation, the almost extinction, of the iron trade, the blowing out of furnaces, and the consequent cessation of the demand for the best class of food on the part of thousands of operatives and mechanics, who had hitherto been the farmers' best customers.

They would have the best of everything when their wages were high; as their wages declined their purchases declined.