COMMERCIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVII, Issue 967, 15 February 1862, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

.. , ITTTEMON. - Yesterday afternoon Mr. Hargroavesottered to public . competition, at Messrs. Stoddort and Sprott's paddocks, the lot of valuable merino sheopunporlod from America :by Messrs. Taylor and Co., consisting ot eight rams and ' one rani lamlvdropped on the voyage The prices realised were far below what might have been expected, and certainly offer no inducement to the importers to repeat the experiment. Nor is this the worst part of the tale, for from the name of one of tho purchasers, we may fairly presume that three out of the eight rams have not been secured, to the province but will be taken up to Nelson. The only reason accounting for this indiuerence (for there was a full attendance at the sale) would appear to be that these sheep are considered moro especially adapted to cultivated paddocks, and that very few of our sheepfanners are sufficiently' advanced in the state of their fences and cultivations to enable them to risk keeping such valuable stock. The following is a list of the prices • No. 21 bought by Mr. Templer £60 10 ■ Major Hornbrook ... 80 3 . Mr. Studhohne... ... 65 _ . 36 „ Mr. Stafford 60 39 Mr. Dransfield 45----34 „ Mr. Stafford 65 4 Mr. Dransfield... ... 55 ' 8 „ Mr. Stafford 70 Ram lamb „ Mr. Ehodes ... ... 50 £550 Or an average price of £61 in round numbers. ■; ' cnKisTcnuKCH. Mr. W. D. Barnard sold by public auction, on Saturday last, sixteen horses and mares, at prices varying from £21 to £55, averaging £32 15s per head; two ponies, £19 and £20; one four-wheel carriage, £38; one American buggy, £33; harness, &c. . : Mr. H. E. Alport reports the following sales at auction: On Saturday last, at Christ-church market, 7 head of young cattle, mainly yearlings, fetched from. £2 10s to £3 los; chickens, 5s per couple, flour, 15s. per 100 lbs; onions, 3*d per lb; cheese, 10J to 11£ per lb; white pine boards, 24s to 26s per 100 feet; ditto scantling, 20s to 265. On Monday, at the Market place sale rooms, several hundred volumes of valuable standard works were placed at fair prices. The sale of books, stationery, &c, will be resumed on Friday next. OTAGO. Business still continues healthy, with a constant demand for suitable goods, which is met at prices giving but meagre profits in many instances. The expense and inconveniences necessarily arising from the present state of irregularity and uncertainty with which business is conducted, militate very much against the sanguine anticipations that many new-comers seem to have entertained of making rapid fortunes; in fact, notwithstanding the present fair business doing, the constant arrivals of new merchants and dealers from Victoria chiefly, would seem to indicate that we may soon expect a very keen competition in every branch of trade. The sale of sugars, ex Amazon, went off very briskly, at prices fully supporting market quotations, and as prices w Australia are high and but little can be looked for here for some time to come, we quite expect to see prices harden. Stock. —Jones, Bird and Co.'s Eeporfc. —Trade has been dull this week, very little superior stock having come to hand until Friday and Saturday. Buyers are still shy, looking for further reductions in present market rates. They are, however, mistaken in doing so, as the market is steadily rising, and the importation of stock from Victoria is rapidily falling off. We quote —Heavy draught mares, first class, £60 to £75; horses, £55 to £60; second class, £30 to £40; hackneys, first class, £30 to £40; inferior, £15 to £25. First class bullocks, £20 to £25; second class, £15 to £18; heifers, £15 to £20; store cattle, £9 to £11. Fat sheep, wethers, 28s to 325; store sHeep, 22s 6d to 25s.—Daily Times, Feb. 10.