He did not mind his cattle taking a little time to get into condition, provided they cost him no ready money.

Theoretically, the grass they ate represented money, and might have been converted to a better use.

But in practice the reverse came true.

He succeeded, and other men failed.

His cattle and his sheep, which he bought cheap and out of condition, quietly improved (time being no object), and he sold them at a profit, from which there were no long bills to deduct for cake.
He purchased no machinery whilst in this small place--which was chiefly grass land--with the exception of a second-hand haymaking machine.