Brydone was successful in his job, helped by his extensive land management experience in Scotland.
Upon his suggestion, the company unprofitable operation in Edendale was changed to dairying and when Brydone applied lime to the sour soil, he set an example that was soon copied by other farmers for improved grass growth.
[1] William Soltau Davidson, the company's general manager in Glasgow, decided to experiment with frozen meat exports and it was left to Brydone to organise the logistics in New Zealand.
[1] The technology had been developed in Australia, but Davidson and Brydone improved the efficacy of it,[2] creating the meat export industry between New Zealand and Britain in the 1880s.
[4] In 1892, Brydone gave a paper at the Australasian Stock Conference in Sydney, describing the immense problems that had to be overcome in the first decade of the frozen meat trade.