What is the difference between a letter offering to sell a parcel of land for one third of the purchase price and requiring a deposit?

The distinction made by the trial Judge was influenced by a statement made by Mr. Justice Strong in McIntyre v. Hood 1884 CanLII 39 (SCC), 9 S.C.R. 556. In that case a land owner wrote a letter offering to sell his land for a stated price. In stipulating the terms of payment he asked for "one-third cash, balance in one year at 8 per cent per annum". The offer did not speak of a deposit. The words used by Strong, J. to construe the offer are as follows (p. 565): "The expression one-third cash, I construe as an elliptical form of expression for 'one-third cash down at the time of acceptance of the offer'." It is also interesting to note that in the next sentence he continued by saying: "And if the proposal had been expressed in this way, there could be no doubt that the stipulation for the payment of one-third of the purchase-money would … have been a payment in the nature of a deposit to be made immediately on the acceptance of the offer."