TIMARU.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 13411, 1 May 1909, Page 10

TIMARU.

Our Timaru correspondent writes:Tho local markets are fairly quiet just now, and in sympathy with the decline in the prico of wheat in Australia and elsewhere, prices have gone back locally. Neither millers nor merchants are keen to buy at the present time, millers being pretty well stocked up, and some bought nothing for the past fortnight. A big shipment of wheat and oats—lß,ooo bugs—was loaded this week at Timaru for Home. Holders of wheat are looking for 4s 3d, and somo for 4s 6d, while others anticipate that 5s will be touched before next grain season; but the fact remains that parcels which have been offered during the week at from 3s lid to 4s 2d have failed to find buyers. There seems to bo a pretty general opinion, however, that the market will shortly settle down at about 4s per bushel. On the oats market there has been a slight improvement in prices, this being attributed to tho fact that there is a shortage' of bags, which is preventing a good part of the Southland crop from being threshed, and reports from the south go to show that prime milling oats there are worth up to Is Bd, and fair quality feed sorts up to Is od and Is 6d, f.0.b., s.i. Quotations in Timaru, however, aro Is od to Is /.Jd for prime Gartons, delivered Timaru, and a penny less for Danish. There are very few oats offering locally. Flour is selling at £11 10s, bran at £4 10s, and pollard at £5 10s. The potato market lacks, animation, merchants being afraid to.speculate in the tuber this year on account of tho blight having played such havoc among the crops. One local buyer who agreed to purchase two lines this week had to reject both, and, generally speaking, they are coming to hand in very bad order. Tho quotation is £2 10s - per ton, f.0.b., but even at this low figure they have to be guaranteed free from blight.