COMMERCIAL.

Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 402, 24 January 1872, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

Since the departure of the mails there hus been bur. lilfcle of nore done in the import market. General business, however, evidences a f.iir amount of activity, and tlie demand from th« country districts has, during the past few days, improved. In the produce market there is :i more decider! firmness in prices. Good wheats sire enquired for tit 5s 3J ; the supply very light. Prime feed oats have been quirted at 2b 3d, and the quotation for ordinarily good is bur, little below this rate. A fair dera md for flour is reported; townmade is quoted at Ll3. .Barley is also in demand, and if of good quality commands very nigh rates. Messrs Wrig-ht, Stgphensos, end Co., r pjrt for the week ending 20t!i Jaumry, as folio v. s : — Fat Cattle.— 33 bead were yarded of good quality, and 3old at from 17a 6d to 20s per 100 los. . P,it Sheep.— None were yarded. 70 fat lamb 3 brought, from 53 9d to 7s each- We Sold privately 84'J half-breds at 2d per lb, -which we quote as their present vulue. Merinos are worth l£d. Store Cattle. — 'No transactions. Store bheep — -Almost every class are in demand) but not many offering. We sold'UOOO half-bred lambs at 53, and 150 half-bred ewes, 2, 4> and 6-tdothy at 6s 6di . We-- quote half? breds, 5s 6d to 6s 6d ; merino wethers, 4,-6, and 8-tooth/

4s to 4s 6d ; do ewes, 4s to 4s 3d ; half bred lambs, ss. Country Sale?. -rWe held a sale of growing crops on account of Mr Win. A. Todd, at East Taieri, on the 19th inst. There was a good attendance of buyers, and the bidding was spitited. Wh-.-at brought L 7. 15s to LS 7s 6d per acre; spri : g wlu-at, Lsto L 5 10s ; oats, L 4 JOs to 1,5 I 12s'6d. :.. „ ■'; ■.-.., . '. Horses.— Our market continues well supplied with liirht stock. On Saturday we sjld ex Wanganni. from Wellington, a shipment of 25 head, consign* principally of this description at (rom L6 tJ LI4. Five heavy horsee brought from L lB to 1.3 . We quote first-class draught', •L4O to L45 ; medium do, 1.25 to L3O ; good hticks a.cl light, harness horses, Lls toL2O; light and inferior, L' 3to L6.

Wool— There still continues a good demand for wools lig'-it in grease, for sliipmeat to America, and very full prices would be paid for any suitable lots. Washed wools are also in better request, and command an advance. At the two public sa'es, held tlm week, up.yards of 1000 bales were sold at a sligit, alv.uico on late rar.es. We hold our third public s.ile fir this a -as m, at our wool stores, on Thursday next, the 25th inst.

Grain. — Few good samples of wheat arc offering. Prime milling worth 5$ to 5s 3d ; inferior, dilHcult to Qu.t, except as fowls' food. 6at«, quii'i. — Milling samples are worth 23 2d to 2s" 3d; iced, 2s to 2s 2d. jJarely — No sales to report.

Ifpssrs DurYEii. Ste.W.v.it, and Co., report for the week ending 20ili Junuu-y, 1872. as follows : — Fat Cattle. — Only 2} head were yarded and sold ; t!it-y were of goo I (air qu.iiity, but tha tra le bein* pretty well supplied, brought but moderate priws. The pa I locks continue to siitfer lor want of rain, and after the cattle at present ready lor market are wjrked off, we expect to sea fin improvement in prices. We quote bast quality a:. 20s per lOOliis. fat Steep. — 200 wether? and 120 lamb 3 were penue I, bur only 100 of former were sold at 6a t>d io 7^ 6 1 ; the lambs all sold .at 5s 91 to 8a 6.L We expect a fair supply of sheep for nexe few* weeks. We quote fiistcla^B half breds at 2d per hi ; d.», merinos, at; 1$ 1 Jo.

station Property. — JCiiere is a marked improvement in the desirj to invent is-i ••00J properties, and we shall offer the following for unreserved s,ie:— On 24th in^t , '• Stotiokl," 26,000 acres, with 13.000 shrpp; " Eu-ged ltidges," 60.000 acres, with 25,8'..)U sheep ; on the Bth March, " Kakii'ui and Aivamoko," 13,360 ncres freeliuld, and 10 0-0 acred lea^eh-Jd, with 18,000 sheep s on 20ih February, ar. Cunstuhurch, •' Ash wick," 62.0U0 acres, with 30.0U0 sheep.

The following 13 MTj'in'lress, Hepburn, and Co.'s Monthly Flax Circular, dated London, Thursday, November 16th, 1871 : —

We limvo to report a good m.irket for New Zeilnnd flax during 'lie put month. The arrivals to:al up 1536 b-les, W'U.-h have nearly ull been brought forward and disposed of ut an average udrjinca of ful y 203 per ton on the rates ruling at iho dute of our 1 ist issue. Some parcels of old import hive also been turned over at prices not pr viously "htainablc, os. ecially for common and h;lf cleaned sorts, which have been in demand, mid our mtrket is almost cleared of everything below m Idling qudi;y. The private transucii nis since the 19th ultimo sum to about 1000 bale^, tiud of 1716 bales ratiilogtied f jr public sale, 130J 1) >les fmnd buyers at the following rate?, viz., L22 5* to L2l< ior between half and three-fourths cleaned ; L 24 10s to L 23 5s for three-'oui t.hs to fairly dressed; an 1 JD3O 5s to L3O 10s per ton /or good quality. Hi,\e descriptions »re scarce, but fur tuch there is little enquiry. In the statistical position of the article there is little change. Lmt month's returns gave the di liveries in October as 276 tons, against 274 tons in the previous month, and the sioCv on the Is', inshim as 729 tons, against 814 lons on the Ist October, and 1745 tons on the Ist JMovembsr 1.-i3t year, lthnslvtn agived by the trade, that from the l-t of January next, this fibre, wliiuli has hiihtM'to been erroneously termed FLix, shall bo entered, returned, and soil as Hemp. It is thought by soi c that thiough this correction the Dock companies may be induced to reduce the rent from 41 to 3d per ton pjr week, t>e rate clnirg d ior pres-s packed biles of East India IJemn, but until shippers- screw the bales more tig' t y and compress the Hemp into a smaller compass, we doubt this d< sired redaction being effected. There is little change in the market for Manilla Hemp, but under the iuiluence of good supplies prices have rut her a downward tendi-ncy. The present quotation for fair ropiug ia IAS p<sr ton.