COMMERCIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2567, 29 March 1869, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

LyUcllon Times Office, Saturday Evening. The Customs revenue collected at Christchurch and Lyttelton to-day amounted to £24 6s 4d The following were the items: Spirits, gallons, £1519 a lod; tea, 830 lbs, £8 $8; biscuits, 1 case, Is 6d. On Saturday, at Cashel street yards, Messrs, ,Wilson and Alport received 32 head of cattle, principally store steers and heifers, with a few dairy cows. The bulk sold at a slight reduction; from recent rates. Prime fat cattle are inquired for, and readily saleable at former prices. . THE ADELAIDE GRAIN MARKET. The following report, from our own correspondent, is dated March 2 Since our last report on agricultural projects in this colony, little has been done worthy of special notation. Clearing up and carting wheat to town, or to sie nearest railway station or port, has been the great work of the pas{ month. Some few early birds have already commenced fallowing for the coming seed time, but, as a rule, our farmers arc too poor or too ignorant to do above one thing at a time; and the most imperatively necessary thing, witji many of them is to turn their produce into cash. It is vexing and .discouraging to see many poor hardworking fellows.who stood last year's failure, ruined by the moderately: good, harvest of this year. But so it is. Last year they were pretty free from debt,' had strong faith in the future, and plenty of credit for the emer-j gency. The coming season, if a good one, ■was to pay two years' liabilities v 'ahd 1 . now both farmers and their creditors have found out. their mistake, and many are succumbing under the pressure,

On Thursday last, the 25th of February, to the Annual Show of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society. It was well attended, and the exhibits of grain, fruit, and vegetables, were especially good. Of machinery and manufactures generally, but little can be said. Of wheat, both hills and plains furnished Borne splendid samples; amongst the varieties may be mentioned the Purple Straw, the hard coarse Algerian, Frame's dark hybrid, and the Tuscan. The prize sample of five bushels from the hills weighed 68jlbs to the bushel. The sample which took the Champion Cup weighed 671bs 15 ozs, and the prize sample, grown on the plains, weighed 67£lbs. These are magnificent weights, and the lots exhibited were altogether a very pleasant sight for a farmer. Would we could grow more of it per acre, and that our climate would admit of the alternative husbandry of England or New Zealand. As it is, splendid samples, eight to nine bushels an acre, aud 4s Gd a bushel, do not keep the farmer's pot boiling. Barley was not particularly good. It is the fault of our barleys that they are thin aud much broken as a rule in threshing; the colour is first-rate, but in every other requisite for malting it is lamentably deficient, and your Canterbury barley, stained as it ofteu is, compares very favourably with it, and would yield considerably more both of malt and money. Our oatsare just middling as against yours or Tasmanian growth, whilst our peas are very good indeed. A collection of wheat in the straw was shown, including the following varietiesCalifornian, Frame's Algerian, Callaby's purple straw, Tuscan blue ball, Wedd's white cone, and Frampton. The blue ball is worthless, being a bad variety of what in the old country used to be called " Rivetts," The Algerian is descended from a sample sent here by the French Emperor after the first Paris Exhibition, and side by side with our prime Tuscan and purple straws, is comparatively worthless. The fruit season is half over, all the more del • cate varieties—peaches, apricots, &c., &c, and the old reminders of English gardens—currants, gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries—being past; but there was a good assortment of grapes, apples, pears, and melons, all large, well grown, and tempting; whilst the vegetables of which there was every variety, were very good, The proximity to Adelaide of a large hill district, where the heat is modified by the altitude, and where bordering the little creeks there are thousands of patches of well watered alluvial soil formed expressly to cheer the hearts and reward the labours of gardeners, is a great boon to the town and suburbs, and provides an abundant supply of the finest garden produce that can possibly be grown, Business during the past month has been tolerably brisk, and has had an upward tendency from beginning to end. Wheat, which at its commencement was yielding 4s 3d per bushel of 60 lbs, is to day firm at 4s Bd, and has been sold at 4s 9d. One cause of the continued persistent rise maybe found in the fact that Sydney and New Zealand have been taking, and continue to take, much larger qaautities from us than was at first expected. The reports of our neighbours' harvests are nothing like so good now that they are completed as they appeared in anticipation, In addition to this, several large charter shipments have had to be provided for, and as the days of demurrage loomed startingly near to some of them, it was imperatively necessary to provide for their requirements. Thiß had a considerable effect upon the market. Heavy shipments of flour have also been made to New Caledonia and the Cape of Good Hope, and have kept our largest millers more continually in the wheat market than is usual for them so early in the season, as they are generally supplied by their local agents who collect for them in the country districts at a fixed commission or salary. According to the present aspect of the market, we cannot expect to see wheat down again this season to the English shippers' desideratum of 4s per bushel. In fact, I do not think it will go at less than the present quotation, namely 4s 8d per 60 lbs. Flour is in steady demand at £ll 2s 6d to £lllos for good country hands, and at £l2 to £l2 5s to £l2 10s for town marks. Bran is a dull sale at Is per 20 lbs bags included. Pollard equally dull at Is Id to Is 3d. English barley makes from 4s 9d to 5s Gd, according to quality ; Cape making from 3s to 3s 3d. Oats are scarce and range from 4s to 4s 9d.

Our total shipments of wheat and flour for the year 1869 up to February 20th, amount to 4968§ tons of flour, and 46,290 quarters of wheat; this, at the rate of 45 bushels of wheat to the ton, is equal to 13,197| tons flour. If we calculate our surplus at the amended amount of 80,000 tons, these first two months of the year have barely done their duty as far as exportation is concerned—seeing that they are close upon harvest. Of theabovequantity,326 tons flour, and 5259 quarters wheat were sent to New Zealand.

In the latest English telegrams brought by last Suez mail, and published in the Argus of March 17, it is stated that "wheat has still an upward tendency." The following lire-stock reports are from the Otago Daily Times Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. report, for the week ending March 20, as follows: -Fat Cattle.— A draft of thirty, good quality and heavy weights, brought from £lO 15s to £14155, equal to about 32s 6d per lOOlbs. Fat Sheep —Several small lots have been sold at from 8s to 9s 6d for wethers; a draft of old ewes realised 4s 9d each; good mutton is worth 2jd per pound, delivered in townfat lambs from 8s to 8s 6d. Store cattle-A mob of 170 were placed at £7 10s. Horses—But few were sold during the week, and the market continues glutted.. Quotations are, for heavy draught from £3B to £45; medium do, from £25 to £35 ; good hacks, from £2O to £25 ; unbroken light colts, from £9 to £l4 ; inferior, from £4 lOsto £B. Messrs Dalrymple jun. and Co. held the first series of their sales at Eagerty's sale yards, ureen Wand, pn Saturday. Heifers went freely at from £5 12s 6d to £8; and young calves at th<j rate of £2 per head; good serviceable hacks from £lB and upwards. Messrs Power, Pantlin, and Co. report that at their sale at Mount Royal, Palmerston, on Wednesday, all the stock brought forward was disposed of, at the following rates Merino fat wethers, 7s j half-bred 10s; half-bred ewe and wether hoggets, 6s to 7s 6d each; 2-tooth wethers, 5s each; merino lambs, 8s 3d a pair. Melbourne.—The following is from the Australasian of March 20:-In the import markets business generally has not been active. The banks and other public offices were closed throughout the day. In the market for breadstuffs, flour is very firm at £l3los, but sales are very limited. Wheat meets with a ready sale at 5s 9d to 5s lid; the latter figure has been paid for very fine Wangaratta wheat. Feeding grains hare hardly recovered from the effect of yesterday's sale, and for ordinary samples of oats we cannot quote over 4s to 4s Id. Maize, however, is very stiffly held; a fair demand is experienced at 4s 5d to 4s 6d. Speculative attention has been directed towards sugar, in consequence of a telegram received in town early this morning, dated London, 12th February, to the following effect" Cuban insurrection serious; great excitement in the sugar market; _ buy and hold." In consequence of this news the Helen's cargo, which was to he offered this forenoon by auction, was withdrawn for au advance of £2 ; the auctioneer, however, succeeded in selling the entire carao, consisting of ,15,693 bags privately in one line, at an extreme figure, Further sales were also effected iu the course of the afternoon, about 2000 mats of Bourbon sugar, and the balance of the Catherine'? cargo—about 1500 bags and pockets—haviug been taken up at prices rising to 41s for low white crystals, and 43s for medium white. These, with other transactions pending, will about clear out the bulk held by importers; and the market looks well for a considerable advance being established. Teas do not command much notice; sales of fine congous continue to be reported at Is lid in half-chests. There has been a good deal of talk regarding kerosene oil, but until the steamer arrives, buyers do U6t care to operate. We hear, however,of a line of 1250 cases of Downer's having ken plw«d at 2s 3d. The very

favourable advices as to salt shipments—thirty., tons for the month, and sixty-four tons in the supplement—have indues' 1 holders to demand higher rates, £5 10s b.;:ns "iow required ; and as this advance, under tf:o circumstances, is not considered excessive, we are informed that the price fixed will be firmly adhered to, The Marguerite's shipment of 350 tons of coals was sold in the hay at 20s per ton. In liquids, we hear of trade parcels of Hennessy's pale brandy having been placed at 7s 9d, but no_iu:{uir; Tiayoad that has come under our notice.

The following station produce report, dated March 10, is from the Australasian of March 20:—Messrs Hastings, Cunningham, and Co. report: Sheepskins.-Our sale this morning was fully attended by buyers, but biddings were not so well as of late. However, the prices realised cannot fail to be satisfactory to owners, as the market value was obtained. Dry station skins brought from 4|d to Gjd per lb; loose skins sold up to 4s each; pelt:;, from Md to 20jd; lambs' pelts from 6d to 9d; lambskins, from 12d to 18d each. Hides.—We have to report a decline in price—owing, we think, to the buyers wishing to have their correspondence by the mail before operating, aud the uncertainty of the weather preventing many of the tanners from attending Mie s.ik Hides brought from 14s to 24s vid eac.i; calfskins, from 4d to 4Jd per lb. We observe this market is much easier at home. Tallow was in good demand, and we note an advance upon late quotations. Our saLs were au from £34 12a 6d to £35 7s Gd per ton for mutton.

The following wool market report, dated March 17 is from the Australasian of March 20:—MessrsR. Goldsbrough and Co. report:— Wool,—At our auction sale held this day 294 bales were catalogued, of which quantity 234 bales were sold, the prices obtained being fully equal to previous rates, Greasy realised 6d to 9jjd; scoured, 12d to 18|d; and fleece llfd to 15d. The bulk of the lots were in inferior to ordinary condition, no superior clips being brought forward. Slisepskins.— We sold a large quantity at fn;n ?' ■. o i per pound for station skius in tae grease, lOd per pound for washed, and ljd to 2fd per pound for pelts. Tailow.—Our sales were at £3115s for beef, and £33 15s to £35 15s for mutton.

The following is from the Argus of March 17:—Messrs James C. Robertson and Co. handed to us the following telegram respecting the China tea market:—" Hong Kong, Feb. 9—Freights for Australia. LoadingCharlotte Andrews, £3. Sailed—Aurora, Feb. 3 j Lyttelton, Feb. 6; Zephyr, Feb. 7. Canton teas, fair business London market. Foo-chow-foo teas, moderate demand since last advices. Some inquiry has taken place for Souchong at previous prices. Loading for Australia—Metaris and Lady Belmore. Ettrick, withdrawn. Amoy, Feb. 4. Oolongs show a slight advance. Stocks firmly held."

The following report of the Melbourne live stock market is from the Australasian of March 20Messrs Dalmahoy Campbell and Co. report, 17th March:—Fat cattle: 1096 were penned up and sold to-day, a large proportion of them being from good to prime, although the average of the various lots was hardly up to. last week's quality. There was a fair attendance of butchers, and at the opening sales the competition was very brisk, at an advance of 20s per head, but towards the close prices receded to about last week's rates. The market, however, throughout was quite as good as we expected, and we notice that this season there has not been the usual depression in the beef market during Lent. We quote best bullocks from £lO 10s to £llss; second, from £7 to £8 10s; inferior, £4 10s 6d; best cows from £6 10s to £7l7s6d—a few up to £B, Fat calves: 108 head were offered, some of which were very inferior, others prime and heavy weights. Best made from 55s to 655; second, 20s to 30s; inferior, 5s to 15s. Fat sheep: The supply for the iveek amounted to 22,026, all of which were from middling to very inferior quality, with the..exception of one or two lots from the westward district, and one draft from the Murrumbidgee. There was a fair attendance of, the town trade, but no country buyers or shippers were in the market; notwithstanding this the demand was brisk for all good butcher's sheep, at an advance of fully Is per head over last week's currency, whilstotherdescriptiops were dull of sale at ■ a slight reduction, and a portion of the supply had to be turned out unsold. We quote good to prime wethers at from 12s to 14s 6d, extra weights up to 17s; good do, from 8s to 10s; second, from 5s 6d to 6s 6d; good ewes, at from 6s 6d to 8s; second do, from 4s to ss. Fat Lambs—l9o6 were penned, the greater portion of which were only of a medium description, and although this number was greatly in excess of requirements; anything from good to prime quality brought very satisfactory prices, while other classes ruled lower by Is per head ; and even at this reduction a clearance could not be effected. We quote prime quality from 10s to 12s 6d, a few cross breeds at, as high as 15s; good dp, at from 7s 6d to 8s 6d; second and inferior, from 2s Gd upwards. Store Cattle—We have no sales to report, with very few lots offering ; and we expect that owners will experience great difficulty in travelling from the north, owing to the scarcity of feed and water on the roads We quote bullocks from 75s to 85s; mixed sexes, over two years, 50s to 60s! cows, from 40s to 50s; speyed heifers, from 50s to 655. Store sheep—This market is still without animation, and we have no transactions to record. Prices remain nominal.

The Argus, of March 15, has the following remarks regarding the Ballarat Annual Grain Show About the grain there is not very much to be said, except that it was mostly of good quality, as, in fact, nearly all grain is this year; but m ny exhibits had the ordinary colonial fault of being mixed or badly cleaned. The first prize lot of twenty bushels of wheat was, however free from this fault, but the kind could riot be. clearly determined. The grower called it " purple straw," and he said the straw was decidedly purple; but the grain was not such as the kind, generally so numed produces. The berry was full, and rather long in shape, but in colour it was not qualified to rank as either a white or a red wheat. It'was, apparently, a good miller's wheat, but the weight was not very great for such a season as this, being only 67flba to the bushel. It was, however, a clean, and unmixed sample of a useful kind of , wheat, whatever be, its proper name, and it is to be taken to the National Show at Sandhurst. The second lot was equal in weight, but it evidently consisted of many different kinds. The weight of the parcel placed third was only a quarter of a pound less, and there was little difference either in weight or quality between several of the other entries. Much of the flour entered was particularly good, and to the eye so equal in quality that the bakers'test had to be resorted to before the judges could award the prizes. But the millers all say that their flour has never been better, and seldom so good, as it is this year. The oats 1 were not remarkable for quality, the Tartarian oats being all very long, and many samples therefore light, but the prize weights seem' moderately, good, namely, 45Jlb and 44Jlb to the bushel respectively. Of the short oats the Canadian were much the heaviest, 511b per bushel, and they are said to be a safer kind to grow than the potato oat, as they do not shake out so readily when ripe. The first prize wa9, however, given for a parcel of the latter, weighing only 481b per bushel, as the heavier lot was mixed and badly cleaned, The exhibits of barley were only moderate in quality, and there were not many of them. There was a heavy sample of rye in the hall, and the seeds generally were good and well cleaned, but they mostly belonged to Beedsmen, who have an advantage over the farmers in the possession of more efficient machinery for this last purpose. The entries of roots were few in number, but the quality of all left nothing to he wished for. The potatoes were very fine, showing no want of moisture in the soil in which they grew ; nor did the first prize mangolds of both sorts, but they were grown on land irrigated twice before Christinas. The first prize carrots had also the same advantage, but it was a question whether ihey should have been so placed, as, although decidedly best in the abstract, they were evidently a garden carrot, wherever they were grown;

while the others, although a rough lot, were plainly field carrots, and for such the prizes were offered. The following agricultural report is from the Australasian of March 20, the latest date to hand:—lhe breadstuffs market remains in the same anomalous condition as last week wheat and flour rising soon after the gathering in of a harvest which, taking all the colonies together, must leave us a large surplus for exportation. The growers are holdiug back supplies so steadily that every week an advance of a penny a bushel or so is forced from the millers, who arc in consequence obliged to demand more for their flour, and the supply of the manufactured article continues so limited that this demand has to lie acceded to. We cannot sec what reason there is to hope that this advance will be permanent, for sooner or later we must begin to export largely; and although prices are said to bo advancing in England, the rise cannot be sufficient to leave a margin likely to cover expenses on cither wheat or flour purchased at the rates now ruling here. The export trade lias become very dull in California, where prices are considerably lower than with us, as it is not known where to send

any quantity to with a reasonable chance of profit. In a few weeks more we may expect to be told officially how much wheat we have grown here and in Sonth Australia, when possibly it may be deemed advisable to keep our own markets more fully supplied. It has always proved bad policy on the part of the farmers to hold back their grain too closely after a plentiful harvest, as by so doing they have a glut for the latter half of the season, and cause prices to fall much below what they would have reached had the proceeds of the harvest been more evenly distributed over the year, and a due proportion of the surplus sent away in time. Feeding grains are dull of sale, and declining; but the fall must needs be trifling, as both oats and maize are manifestly in Bhorfc supply this year, The number of loads of hay coming into market continues to be about equal to the demand, talrbg one day with another, and prices, t j jrofore, remain as they were. Information of a most valuable kind can be furnished by owners of threshing-machines, and it is a pity that more of them cannot be induced to write reports to the local papers of what strikes them as worthy of notice. However, the system has been commenced, and we find again in the Geelong Advertiser a report from Messrs Smale and Walters at the end of their season. This has been shorter than usual, owing principally to the smaller bulk of straw to be passed through the machines, but the yield of grain has been quite up to expectations. Many fields intended for grain were also cut for hay, and there has been no wet weather to put a stop to threshing operations. The district referred to in this report comprises part of theßarrabool hills, Gnawarre, and Duneed, and the average yield of wheat in it was fourteen bushels fifty-eight pounds to the acre, the yields varying from eight to twentyseven bushels. The highest amount was obtained from forty-five acres of land on the Barraboofy belonging to Mr John Heard, and manured with farm-yard manure. The average yield of barley, mostly Cape, was twentyfive bushels to the acre, but a small lot of Oregon barley gave a yield of over sixtythree, as 160 bushels were the produce of two and & half acres, carefully measured. The quality of this sample was also better than that of Cape barley. The average yield of oats was twenty-two and a half bushels, and the owners of the machine say that they passed through their hands this year some of the finest samples they have ever seen in the district. One parcel averaged 36 bushels, and it is pointed out as beneficial to both this and the wheat crop, that the old. system of sowing wheat on new land is changed, and that oats are now sown first. Thus the oats are obtained of better quality, and the wheat is not subjected; to : rust, to which it is said to be very liable when taken as a first crop off new land. Peas seem a poor crop generally, not averaging more than eleven bushels to the acre, and in some cases the yield was only five or six. The small quantity of rye grown gave a yield of seventeen bushels, and rye grass gave sixteen bushels. The potatoes were not, of course, put through the mill, but they are estimated at two tons to the acre. This report winds up by advising that the carting of straw to market should be abolished, and more farm yard manure made. In the Ballarat Star, we also find a report of a similar kind from the Linton and Argyle direction, and containing some useful information. The averages are not given, but many actual yields are, and these vary from fifteen to forty-two bushels to the acre of oats, barley, and wheat. In this district the Canadian oats are said to yield the best, Californian oats having yielded equally on one farm, and on it twelve bushels to the acre more than the Tartarian oats. Such are the important facts which come prominently under the notice of owners of threshing-machines, and it is of the utmost consequence to the farmers that they should be made widely known.