AUSTRALIAN HARVESTS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17607, 9 November 1922, Page 10

AUSTRALIAN HARVESTS.

PROSPECTS MORE KEASSURING. (from: otjb own cobeespondent.) T SYDNEY, November 1. The prospects for the wheat crop ar© more reassuring. A cyclonic disturbance about the middle of last week-resulted in fairly good rains throughout New South Wales, and the wheat belt in the West - received sufficient to save those crops which have not been cut for hay. More rain is needed before there can be any assurance of good returns from that area, but the State meteorologist says that the prospects are good ior more of the same kind of weather. i BANKS AND WOOL SHIPMENTS. ' (Received November 9th, 1.10 a.m.) LONDON, November 7. ' A meeting of representatives of Aus- | trillian and New Zealand banks agreed that if wool buyers here authorised: " them to accept received; for shipment ]>ill 9 of lading on conditions which the r New Zealand Government proposed, tho " banks would not raise objections, r \ SYDNEY WOOL SALES. (Received November 9th, 1.10 a.m.) SYDNEY, November 8. F The fourth series of wool sales coneluded to-day with the keenest oompeti- . tion and demand. AH better classes . were firm at late rates. Poorer classes j were irregular and prices, sagged, t • 1 THE WORLD'S CATTLE. i VERY LITTLE ALTERATION. 1 Statistics published by the' United States S Bureau of Agriculture show that there has 1 been but little alteration in the number of f cattle since pre-war times. The number be--3 fore the war was 383,784,000, and the number 8 now is 384,398,000.' The statistics,' however, ' are far from complete, as. the numbers re-, 3 lating to the countries of Eastern Europe, » including Russia, with 52,000 000 cattle ber fore the war, are not included, and witn the exception of British India, with . 117,438,000,. the. immense herds of Asia are f not'mentioned, and the cattle of Africa except 5,975,000 of the Union of South Africa, ' : are not referred to. Before the war France f had 14,807,000 head of cattle, and now tbere 1 are 13,217,000 in the country; Belgium, r 1,849,000, now 1,292,000; Austria. 9,159,000, t now 1,633,000. This last is an official estir mate. Germany claimed 21,000,000 head'bea fore the'war, and there are now 16,790,000. •The numbers of cattle in the herds of countries that affeot tha meat supply are 5 as'follow:—' C ' Pre-war. Post-war. t Number. Number. 7 United States :. 56,592,000 66,191,000 3 Argentina" .. 80,796/000 27,000,000 3 Australia ■ • 11,484,000 12,711,000 Uruguay .. 8,101,000 7,803,000 Paraguay •• 4,752,000 5,500,000 Canada .. 6,566,000. 10,206,000 118,291,000 129,411,000' New Zealand supplies the consuming markets with a fair amount of beef, and Brazil, with 37,500,000 head of cattle, and Madagascar, with 7,278,000, are regarded as future sources of supply. Brazil is'contributing a > certain/ amount of meat, and France is , drawing supplies from Madagascar, where there are five or Bix freezing workß. There 1 [ are 120,000,000 cattle in' India, but they are of such breeds that the European taste fails j to appreciate them.* 1 BRITAIN'S WOOL TRADE. EXPANSION IN EXPOBTS. The quantity of wool imported ■ into Britain oontinues very -large, and- -during tho .eight months ended August 31st, the impOrts totalled 2,617,865 bales,- which was about 250;000 bales more than was imported during the .first eight months of 1919, in Which period the imports;, were larger than during any corresponding period since 1913. The following shows the imports, re-exports, < and the quantity of colonial and foreign wool retained in Britain in eaoh of the first eight months of the current year:—: Re- ReImports, exports, tained. 1922. . - Bales. Bales. Bales. January •• -271,758 83,098 188,666 i February .. 840,451. '. 125,930 214,521 ' March .. 873,204 105,580 267,624 I April /. 854,189 147,629 , 206,560 I May .. 418,643 '118,978 .299,665 i June- .. 295,190 10,187 285,003 I July 240,237 ' 150,304 89,933 , August .. 828,698 111,063 , 212,630 r 2,617,865 852,764 1,7«4,601 1 The bulk of the'wool was obtained from > within the Empire, as tho following shows: — From , Lb. 1 Australia ■. •. 828,060,200 > New Zealand,.. 273,035,200 s S. Africa .. .. 118,849,700 t Brit. E. Indies ' , 87,847,200 > Falkland Islands. 8,125,000 - Of the Wool re-exported during the period, - France took &1,476,5001b, Germany 66,962,4001b, i Belgium 78,288.8001b, and th« United States l 89,166,7001b. » WOOL SALE AT HULL. 1 ■ . i J i Last week (says our London correspondent, 1 writing on September 29th),a wool sale wan held at Hull, when 82,000 boles were offered f on B.A.W.R.A. account. Practically all the 1 offerings were cleared, with the exception of j medium and low orossbreds, buyers being unwilling to take all these, ty would have j been thought, after - seeing the very mis- . cellftneous. character of the wools, and-par- - ticularly tho large offeringa of crosabreds, t that prices would have depreciated somer what, but on the whole it was a good sale, . with prices fully on a par with the close of the. previous London ouotions. ..Some de- , adaptions actually became deafer,, chiefly the 1 fine crossbred scoured skin wools, these sell- [ ing remarkably well, in spite of the large 1 quantity offered, often making 2d per lb more than .was realised during -the London sales. The few merinos available were chiefly of. Continental style, the Adelaide offeringa providing the' best wools from a Bradford combing standpoint. Even here, however, there was nothing good, but merinos' and fine crosabreds generally realised prices fully equal to those current at the close of the London auctions. The quantity of oroesbreds brought forward was very large in proportion to the total. ' Besides the Australian crossbreds, wihich were of a very mixed oharacter, and included a large pro- : portion of burry. wool?, there, were about 180 bales of New Zealand wools, these being offered on.growers' account.. CONSOLIDATED GOLDFIELDS, LIMITED. THe Ghristchurch Stock Exchange has received the followihg advice from Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand, Ltd., of the crushing returns of Blackwater Mines, Ltd., • 'for the month'of October:— ■ Crushed 3080 tops, yielding 1809 iine ounces of. gold, valued at" £4 10s per' fine ' ounce, £5689; working expenses £4829, development and oapital £9lO, new water race i £360, working profit £IO6O, ret loss £2lO. THRESHING BE TURNS. The "Wheat Controller the followin? return, far the period ended November 7th, 1922. • threshing returns received to date, 9,922,656 bushels. - Contracts to. purchss^—Good milling, 6,599,740 bushes; fowl-wheat, 654,000 bushels. ' Amounts paid, to-farmers, through Government brokers, £2,056,525 8s lid, representing 6,969,698 bushels.