GRAIN AND PRODUCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 219, 16 September 1930, Page 4

GRAIN AND PRODUCE.

POTATOES ADVANCE,

BUT NOT FOR LONG.

The only marked change in the local grain and produce markets since last report has been in the case of potatoes, which are as scarce to-day as they were plentiful a fortnight since. Stocks on spot are very light, so much so, that merchants are rationing deliveries pending further arrivals from the South. The inevitable consequence is that the local price has been advanced, and now stands at £7 to £7 10/ per ton for orders for immediate fulfilment. £6 10/ is quoted for next week's deliveries. The sudden scarcity is really a matter of freight provision. The Waipiata' has been taken off the run and the Wingatui has been delayed in the" South a week. Once regular deliveries are resumed there will probably be plenty of cheap potatoes, as the statistical position is all in favour of buyers. The area in potatoes in Canterbury - in the 1928-29 season was 12,888 acres, and in the 1929-30 season it was 14,606 acres—an increase' of 1718- acres—in Canterbury alone. In the Dominion as a whole, the increased area in potatoes last year was 1910 acres. The decreased shipments from Lyttelton this year, as compared with last year, total 8301 sacks. During the past six weeks shipments to.the North Island have dropped steadily compared shipments for the corresponding period last year, the figures beipg: 1928-29, 64,996 sacks; 1929-30, 52-976—a decrease of 12,020 sacks in six weeks this year, as compared with the same period last year. , From the foregoing it will be seen that there must be unusually heavy stocks in the South, and with no export markets available values are likely to rule low.

e Mostly Californian Onions. Supplies of local onions are practically exhausted. A few Australians are still about, but have to be repicked before dei livery. They realise about 15/ per cwt. , The market is chiefly supplied at present by Californian-grown. These are of par- ® ticularly good quality, with the exception r of some portions of the cargo damaged in transit. A small quantity of Canadian onions came to hand by the Niagara, but the first substantial shipment of tlie f season is due,by the Aorangi. These are being quoted to arrive at 16/6 per bag. r 3 Wheat Stilt Dear. c Fowl wheat is very firm at 7/11 to 8/ per bushel. j Maize In Demand. . There is still a brisk business in maize. ( Merchants are busy completing deliveries ' made forward, with Bay of Plenty going ' directly by rail to the Waikato and other centres and supplies for Auckland City and suburbs by boat from Gisborne. A j comparatively small proportion is coming here from the Bay of Plenty by. Northern Steamship Co.'s boats. ■ Oats and Chaff. 1 After a lengthy spell at 4/10 per bushel B Carton's have eased a penny, and A's are available at 4/11. Seed lines are un- > altered. The position in regard to chaff shows no change. Bran and Pollard. Since last report the local mills have lowered the price of pollard £1 to £8 10/ per ton, and merchants with cheap supplies from Australia have been able to follow suit. Actually they quote 5/ cheaper if delivery is taken from the wharf. Bran prices are unchanged, and the demand is easing off. Wholesale Current Prices. Pollard and Brau.—Mill prices: Pollard, £8 10/ per ton; bran, £8 per ton. Merchants' prices: Australian pollard, £8 10/ per ton; bran, £8 10/. Oats.—Feed: B Cartons 4/9 per bushel, A Gartons 4/11, clipped Duns 6/9, clipped Algerians, 6/6, clipped Gartons 5/5. Fowl Wheat.—B/ per bushel. < Maize.—-Local, 6/2 to 6/3 per bushel, ex store. Barley.—Feed, 5/9 per bushel. Seed: Cape barley, 6/6 per bushel. Maize Meal.—l 3/ per 1001b. i Barley Meal.—-13/ per 1001b. Chaff.—G.b.o.s., £10 10/ per ton, Blenheim or Canterbury; Tasmanian, £9 10/ in hessian bags, £10 in New Zealand sacks. Potatoes—Table, £7 to £7 10/, ex store. Seed: Gamekeepers, Northern Star 1 and Arran Chief, 7/. Onions. — Australian, repicked, 15/; Californian, 19/6 a bag, 21/ a case; Canadian (to arrive), 16/6 per bag.