COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17853, 28 August 1923, Page 8

COMMERCIAL.

FROZEN PRODUCE LETTER. yESTEY'S MEAT FLOTATION REFRIGERATED FRUIT IN GREAT BRITAIN. (FEOM OTJB SPECIAL COEEESPOJTDENT.) LONDON. July 17. A further stage in the progress of the great frozen meat and cold storaeg undertakings of Vestey. Bros, is marked by the issue this week of additional capital for the Union Cold Storage Company, Limited, to the extent of 3 ; 300,000 6 per cent. £1 cumulative preference shares. This issue, which -it is quite anticipated will De successfully floated on the pulbic, will bring the capital of this great company up to £8,780,000, in addition to which there is only £1,000,000 of M percent, 'debenture stock outstanding-. The new .capital is required for the purpose of .acquiring from the Western, United Investment Company,. Limited (Messrs concern) the assets of tht British and Argentine Meat Company, •Limited; Eastman's, Limited; Proprietors of Fletcher's (Meat Importers) Limited; Argenta Meat Company, Limited; British Beef Company, Limited: North Australian Meat Company Limited; Lonsdale and Thompson, Limitred; John Layton and Company, Limited; and Donald Cook and Son; Lim- , ited, this step putting under llie Union Company's banner the 2400 retail butch-\-ers' shops, depots, and market stalls •in Great Britain,- together - with ■■'factories and wholesale selling establishments, which have been gathered tost gether on a multiple basis by those two remarkable men, Lord Vestey and his brother, Sir E. H.. Vestey, Bart, ; As <th<) prospectus states, this will constitute by far the largest and most complete organisation of its kind in the world. The strength of the Union Company is indicated by the fact that it has now accumulated an appreciation reserve of nearly two millions .sterling, and the profits for the past three years have well exceeded a million sterlingper annum,,..--The position :<if Messrs Vestey in the meat trade as so-called monopolists has.;, often been to, but whatever the strength' '.of their position—and it is admittedly great—it always has to be borne in •mind that they are constantly up .against the Btrenuous competition of :.the American Meat) PackTers, who, of course, together wield a very much greater capital, although they do not ;go near the consumer as; the retail section, into Messrs Vestey hanre -.ventured on ,an-extensive- scale, j since the' war.' ; It is '• by this absorption ofnearly, 10 per cent, of the retail meat shops of the country that. Messrs- Vestey lave placed themselves in such a strong position against' competitors, as, whatever the state of -the' general wholesale meat markets, they are always assured of aii outlet for the meat from their works in different parts of the Souths era Hemisphere, through those 2400, retail establishments. It is. only when meat retailing as a trade becomes rin- ' profitable that tho shoe : can ■ pinch 'the Vestey concern, and it always has ±0 be remembered, that however much the liig operator flourishes, the small family retailer, with, his tiny business conducted under expert personal control, can always earn a. living. Sir Henry ITones on Applo Trade. ../The discussions'that have been waging around the subject of refrigerated .'fruit carriage during the past year have been.sufficient to indicate to everyone 'the importance of strict attention to the regulation of this, traffic arriving for the United Kingdom market. The question of the "brownheart" trouble has been only one out of sereral factors, all of thenf pointing to the necessity of the producer and shipper securing right conditions rather than insuring . against failure to obtain them. Sir, Henry Jones, of Tasmania, who Is admittedly a leading figure in this trade, , strikingly alluded to this point in London last month,"when he referred to.the suggestion that deterioration in. siirarice wss harmful, to the trade. He thought, however, that modified de--1 terioration insurance might be resorted to with advantage, provided that the premium charge was reasonable. Competition for Home Market. ' There are indications that English .. orohardists are about to, take some ,steps of an organised character- in order to' fill with, home fruit some of those months in which the market in Great Britain is captured by the import trade. This is an. effort to make : one branch of English agriculture, more .profitable in these loan times, and it is , .undertaken at the repeated advice of • thost. who hare . long" counselled the English farmer to,avail themselves of refrigeration/ For this reason Dominions fruit shippers will be all the more careful to study the requirements of tho home market with increased watchfulness.; Sir., Henry. Jones, referred to the-opinioh held- at the consumers' end that_ftradjlngjto : i-ujcfiyinst©ad of pr 4inch was sufficient, this reco'ipmendation tho -outcome of representations made •'by,; l reiailers -whb v find xlifficulties anse;.invw^ighjng 4 lbs. The suggeßtion.-isj'that.tJie;poai't.shall be put to, th©j A^straßan.; in order thasthe>proyißiqn under the Commerce'',Act of 'the. Commonwealth, m ; ay,;if jthought. desirable, „be altered. Sif/H&ry..- Jones was of opinion that thej strapping of boxes was unnecessary i where hard wood r cases were used.:/?; From other quarters similar testimony-is given,' and insistence made upop'the/'necessity of having wood of siifficieiitf thickness in the cases. Finally;,''&r/<senry Jones, speaking on the b|ijtiiy.slem' of refrigeration'for fruit a**seayVga?vo hjs •preference > to the bat-' terv and fan systen), the grid system, however^'being quite satisfactory, in his opinion, provided fans',were employed to circulate the air.'•'' "' DUMPING. '■''■'•■ ''.".'. '^: "BRITISH" BOOTS FROMGERMAN LEATHER, In the course of his remarks at ; ,the meeting of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Mr D. A. Ewen (of the firm of Sargood, Son, and Ewen), called the attention of the members to the reports of the quantity of British goods which .iyere be-.; ing made from German raw materials. He pointed out that if the .Dunedin. Exhibition were made -Imperial and. not international ; -it would be competent to exhibit such goods, whilst footwear wholly made in Prance would be excluded. Mr Ewen said that it had been reported that boots and shoes, made as stated, had been 'dumped in New Zealand to the value of £300,000, whilst, similar goods..;,to the value of about £68,000 had been dumped in Australia, causing local manufacturers ft good deal of anxious thought.

AMERICAN WOOL LAGGING. FORCING A MARKET, (7BOK OTJB OWS COEEESPOSDBKT.) SAN FRANCISCO, July 31. "With unmistakeable signs of a general trade depression in Eastern United States, the wool market has been affected to such an extent that manufacturers hare shown a decided tendency to hesitate in making purchases, and the holders of vast stocks of wool on the market in Boston hare been endeavouring to infuse some life,, into the trade dullness. The fact r is" that the Boston wool stocks have been-; on the counter so long that manufais turers have been slow to "sense" the. circumstances that the time is at liana when they must pay the market price or go without the wool. It is true that the wool trade has shown a disposition to meet the situation and, where Wools can be sold at a profit, dealers have '.'shaded" the price. The purpose is said to be a desire to start the market going. This seemingly has resulted in some-lower prices being quoted.than have hitherto been available. It is not-regarded as likely that the lower prices quoted at the opening'will Jong remain in force, but they have served as a starting point. New domestic wools have been arriving in Boston from the "West very slowly, the weekly arrivals recently noted beinc only one-third those reported at-, the corresponding period a year ago. Many reasons are' assigned for the small supplies coming in, one being that instead of the heavy transcontinental railway tolls being paid as in the past, the Western wool-growers . are now resorting to the cheaper method of transportation by -steamer through the Panama Canal. This nccounts for some measure of the late arrivals of "Western wool. It is noted that a large volume of early purchases •of wool were passed-to the manufacturers, and shipped direct \o the mills, but the principal reason is that owing to, recent low prices, a considerable quantity 'of Western wool has been held in storage waiting an improved' market. Buying Fleeces. ' In ° the fleece-wool country not much activity is. observed. An extraordinary volume of'wool is still unsold in various parts of Ohio. The Columbus pool in that State is getting its normal share in the clips./ Some Boston houses arc busily canvassing Ohio and have made : purchases, at 60 cents for fine and medium clips. But on thevßoston market few sales of fleeces have occurred recently. Some large handlers of fleeces report that they are well sold on medium wools, and that evidently manufacturers are not yet ready to buy fine delaines, and half-blood wools freely. A sale of three-eighths-blood Michigan is noted at 55 cents. This wool shows a clean cost of about 1.04 ..dollars,., .Dealers ..report. a, steady nib::blmg. at the, fleece;'wool bait that they aro placing, but the ideas of some of tho largo users of these wools are be-' low the actual market. From Western Pennsylvania it is reported that a number of county pools have offered their choice fine wools, but being dissatisfied with the bids, have rejected them all, and will hold their wools until they can obtain what they cantend the wbol.is worth. Sales on. the Boston market include Territory at. I'.lo dollars for'a good, lot, and 1.Q2 dollars t0'1.05 dollars for a less desirable parcel. Qua'iter-blo'od Territory has" sold on the. clean basis at 90 cents;

Some of the. larger mills have been displaying an unexpected interest in medium wools, especially good Terri? Tories and fleece. A considerable movement is reported-- in .foreign ;,J medium SprtSrra large New Jersey mill being credited with "purchases of something like 3.000 bales of New Zealand crbssbreds, mostly 46s at 26 to 27 Cents in bond. .

In the effort to meet the situation and;'to . revive a dormant market in the. present dull American wool conditions, one wool.house has set an example by marking down its fine and half-blood tops- about five eents per pound. This has put the price below the cost, of replacement on the present basis of wool, but' it was.made possible by fortunate purchases of wool before the present level was reached. Purchases of wool to go abroad continue, and' houses . with an English connexion are quite active. One. house reports shipments' aggregating about ' 1000 bales- of greasy Capes and Australian wools just leaving Boston. These shipments have been a potent factor in stabilising the Boston market, especially for all medium and low foreign varieties. The American market continues to be-, considerably below the parity of London. France and Germany are active buyers of" the grades not wanted in Boston at the moment, and sKippers claim that it is a, profitable operation to ship hence under existing conditions.

GERMAN TWEEDS. BIG IMPORTS OF.BOGUS BRITISH CLOTH. Although, only five years ago her own people were wearing clothing made from paper, nettles, and other substitutes, Germany is now making, a bold hid for the position of Britain'sclothier (say 9 the London ."Daily Mail" of July 9th). * Thousands of women in this country are how wearing stockings ; and other garments made of silk mixtures in German factories. Many men in England are halving suits of materials bearing good British names which never saw a -iiritish loom. ''The ..Germans," said a London wholesale ' cloth, merchant recently, "have since the war made, and sold in this country., a .'Scotch' tweed." How greatly the "poor Germans" have restored these among many other linos of their export trade is illustrated by the following extracts from the last available import returns for tho -United Kingdom, those for hrst May. They are. shown compared, with the 'figures for May, 1921. 'May, 1921.'May, 1923. Silk manufactures ■"..••.-•.■ mixed with other • 19.9& s'q.' yds 134,285 •Ribbons".of'the': same materials >173 23,646 Woollens and Worsteds (except apparel) ..' " '.. '", M,510 sq. yds 118,152 Undressed leather ' 28 cwt 3488 cwt It is, true, that our imports from lother countries, of similar materials have in many-cases.also increased, but the growth of German imports has been out of .all-proportion. In the case of silk manufactures mixed with other materials, our imports from .France had actually fallen off, from 908,353 square'yards in May, 1921, to 156,632 square yards in May this year, whil? tho German imports had registered their huge increase. N.Z. SHRUBS FOR ENGLAND. Mr J.' M. Baxter, of'the ' Native Nursery, Papanui road, has Just forwarded to Mr F. Saville, Sussex,' England,' a' second consignment..' of ,150 New Zealand, trees, shrubs, and plaata.

DENMARK'S BEST CUSTOMER. | TRADE BALANCE AGAINST j GREAT BRITAIN. (raOM OVZ Offl COEBBSPOJTDMT.) LONDON, July 17. From,the annual review of the economic situation in Denmark, by the Commercial Secretary to the British Legation 'at Copenhagen, one gathers "that the industrial expansion which took place, in that .country during the war cannot be maintained under ordinary " commercial ' conditions. At all Events, it is not maintained under the .conditions that now prevail. The increased capital invested in manufacturing and business enterprises has now in a great measure been lost. Much or the machinery installed is obsolete, and the industries cannot find full employment for more than about half the labour that was attracted to them. It j follows that in Denmark, as in Britain, the casts of' production, are too high. I There was a drastic weeding out in the business. world last year, artificial values were written down, and so Danish industrialists were able to enter into the trade improvement which has marked the current year, less heavily handicapped than they were before. Great Britain remains far the best customer that Denmark has. The exchange of trade between them provokes to-day, as it has provoked before, many interesting reflections. While' England took over forty millions worth of Denmark's products last year, the value of the trade received in return was roughly one-third of-that. It is esti- ( mated'that in 1922 Danish butter constituted 33.4 per cent, of the total British butter importj as compared with 33.5 per cent, in the previous year, and 41.2 per cent, in 1913. Out of thirty-six and a-half million score of eggs from Denmark, nine-tenths werv> shipped to this country, and what seems still more astonishing is tho fact that out of 111,400 tons of bacon and pork exported, only J per cent, went to. markets other than Great Britain. Denmark, remains thjs country's most important source of such produce, but since pre-war days there has been a great development of commerce within the Empire as regards food. Last year' New Zealand sent to England butter to the value, of over nine millions sterling,' and large consignments likewise came from Australia and Canada. The British share of the Danish import trade was greater last year than in 1921, because the Danes bought practically all their coal from England, but there are many directions in ■ which it ought to be possible for British traders to obtain a more proportionate share of business in Denmark. In cycle covers and tubes Germany has dominated the market, while a considerable proportion of the motor-car tyres sent there last year consisted of old war material bought by enterprising Americans after hostilities had ceased. NEWCASTLE COAL IMPORTS. (rasas assoctatiok tslzosucO . WELLINGTON, August 27. Of late much Newcastle coal has been imported into the Dominion, the .figures running into several thousand tons.- Although the miners dispute is ended,- it is anticipated by those in a position to speak with authority that coal will still be imported from Newcastle at the rate of about 10,000 tons a week. AKAROA BUTTER FACTORY CO.

The annual general meeting of the shareholders of the Akaro* Co-op. Butter Factory was held on Saturday, Mr Peter Cunningham, ohairman of directors,, presiding. The annual report of the directors congratulated suppliers on having had a record season. The output was upwards of 142 tons. Butter-fat received totalled 261,0651b, from which was manufactured 316,8671b butter. The credit balance on the profit and loss account was £l9Ol 10s id. Out of this it was proposed to pay the usual dividend of 6 per cent, on all paid-up ahaies as at July 31st, 1922; to pay a, further bonus of lid per lb on butter-fat supplied, making a total payment of Is 7£d for the season; to write off £4O from plant and buildings, and to carry forward the balance of £30,10s 4d. Tho retiring directors were Messrs D. H. Curry, IV. W. "Williams, and H. Porter. On the motion of the chairman, seconded by Mr W. W. Williams, the report and bal-ance-sEeet- were adopted. Messrs D. H. Curry, \V. W. Williims, Jos. Gumey, and G. A. Hammond were elected to fill vacancies .on the directorate. Mr Geo. Murdoch was Te-e!ected auditor. On the motion of Mr F. G. Armstrong, votes of thauka were, accorded- the chairman and the staff, an especial tribute being paid to the former, whose untiring and enthusiastic efforts in' the ■ companv's interests had mot with such success. The eocretary, Mr C. W. Leete, and the manager, Mr A. W. Judd, replied on behalf of the staff. A long and animated discussion, took place on the matter of cartage, Borne of the suppliers tabling n grievance to the effect that justice had not been done in Tespcct to the placing of tho coming' season's contract for cartage of iream, of supplies, and output. Eventually the chairman's full and candid explanation of tho whole position resulted in the" meeting, on the -notion of Mr J. Gurnpy, .>f Le Bon's Bay, unanimously indicating .its. complete satisfaction therewith. It was stated 1 hat the contractors had undertaken to collect cream cans from around the watershed and. over the range, to bring supplies from Christchurch, and to transport thither the factory's output of butter. | It was decided to open the factory on September 3rd. The chairman stated that the discarded electric motor had been sold for £45, and that tho butter output, for September and October had teen Fold at Is 6d per lb. ' At the subsequent meeting of directors, Mr Peter Cunningham was unanimously re-elect-ed chairman. WEEKS, LTD. Tha twenty-fifth annual general meeting of shareholders in Weeks, Ltd:, will be held on the 3rd pros., when the report and bal-nnce-sheet for the year ended July 25th, 2323, will b-. presented. The net profit for the year was £10,502 7b Id, making, with the balance of £lO2l 8s 6d brought forward from last year, a total of £11,523 13s 7d available for appropriation. An. interim dividend of 4 per cent, paid on February Ist jast absorbed £IBOO, and it is proposed to pay a final dividend of 6'per cent, and a bonus of 2 per cent., amounting to £3600, arid making a -lOtil distribution of 12 per ceat for the year. It- is also proposed to trahtbr £SOOO to T'serve fund, making the totti of that fund £14.000, and leaving a balance of £1123 13s 7d to be carried forward. The directors report that the Auckland factory and warehouse has been completed and taken over, the company now having an up-to-date factory and accommodation adequate to meet all requirements for some years to come. . Reserves end Dividend. carried •Year Net Profit. Amount, forward, ended £ p.c. £ £ July, 1919 5,926 12 3,527 16,703 July, 1920 8,756 12 4,800 5,762 Julv, 1921 7,191 10 4,500 8,364 July, 1922 6,157 10 4,500 10,021 July, 1923 10,502 12 5,400 15,123 CHAFF FROM AUSTRALIA. (SFECUI. TO "ID rUH.'I WELLINGTON, August 27. The question of whether chaff from Australia was being dumped in New Zealand was raised in the House to-day. The Hon. .W. Downie Stewart said that enquiries made so far indicated that Buch was not the case. A cablegram had, however, been, sent to the New Zealand representative at Melbourne asking - that further , enquiries should be made.

CHRISTCHURCH STOCK. EXCHANGE. YESTERDAY'S TRANSACTIONS. Sales Beported—Ashburton Power Board, 5i per cent., 1933, £101; Christchurch Gas, £S Se 6d; Crown Brewery, 555. LATEST QUOTATIONS. Buyers. Sellers. £sd £ s d DEBENTURES— N.Z. Govt, ii per cent.. Inscribed, 1938 .. 37 0 0 N.Z. Govt. 4| per cent. Inscribed, 1939 .. N.Z. Govt. 5 per cent. Inscribed, 1929 .. 98 0 0 98 7 6 - N.Z. Govt. 5J per cent. Inscribed, 1933 .. ■Waimairi County 5J per cent., 1930 Asbbuiton Power Board 5i per cent., 1933 .. 100 10 0 101 10 0 N.Z. Breweries (10 per cent.) .. ... BANKS— Bank cf Adelaide .. 8 5 0 New South Wales (cum div.) .. .. 41 2 S 41 7 6 New Zealand (rights) .. 19 3 19 6 Rovnl (£1 paid) .. 115 9 ' Royal (£4 pa-id) .. 617 6 Union of Australia .. INSURANCE— South British .. 2 10 22 0 LOAN ANP AGENCY— Goldsbrough, Mort .. 2 6 9 2 7 3 SHIPPINGHoward, Smith .. Huddnrt Parker .. FROZEN MEAT— N.Z. Refrigerating (£1 paid) N.Z. Refrigerating (10s paid) .. •. 0 10 6 WOOLLENS— Kaiapoi (£1 paid) .. Kaiapoi (pref. re div. only cum div.) .. G' Q Christchurch .. .. 8 5 0 8 5 6 BREWERIES— Crown .. .. Manning- ... .. W,rd .. ..213256 TIT>EE Kauri .. .. MISCELLANEOUS— Beath and Co. .. 1 14 6 Burns, Philp .. ' ■ 113 3 Eclipse Petrol (£1 paid) 0 11 0 N.Z. Farmers' Co-op. (£2 paid) 016 0 017 6 N.Z.. Farmers' Co-op. (7* per cent. Bonds, 1931) .. .. 92 0 0 95 0 0 N.Z. Sugar of Milk .. 1 12 3 Wbitcombe and Tombs 313 6 816 6 N. Canterbury Flourmilling (10s paid) .. 010 0 MINING—"Waihi .. ... OTHER EXCHANGES. ! (pEISa ASSOCIATION TELEGRAMS.) AUCKLAND, August 27. Sales:—Auckland Gas. 25s lid; Parker, Lamb. 28s; Parenga Kauri Oils (paid up). 2s, 6d; Wilson's Cement, 275; New Waiotahi, Is; Waihi, 25s 6d! WELLINGTON, August 27. Sale Reported—Bank of N.Z., £2 10s 6d. ■ DUNEDIN, August 27. Sales—Mount Lyell, 24s 9d (two); New Zealand Refrigerating (con.), lis 2d. Sales Reported—Bank of New Zealand (rights), 29s 6d; Westport Coal, 41s 6d. MESSRS LOVELtf AND CHRISTMAS. SATISFACTORY PROGRESS. (TEOM 088 OWS COBBBaPOITOEirr.) LONDON, July 17. • Mr W. G. Lovell, C.8.E., presided, at the twenty-eighth ordinary general meeting of Messrs Lowell and Christmas, and he congratulated' the shareholders upon the very excellent result obtained. True, the chairman said, there wa* only . £145,000 net profit for the year, against £165,000 last year, but he thought that Anyone with a knowledge of trade conditions would, agree that v difficult as the previous year .was, the period under review..had .been still worse,'and,ibe risk of big'losses niuch greater.' Between lie beginning' of March and the en-I of May butter prices collapsed from 212s to 1445, and cheese from 150s to 94s per cwt. In view of the company's immense turnover, it was- impossible • for them to avoid carrying comparatively heavy stocks, however sound and conservative a policy they might adopt. In these circumstances he considered • that the financial result obtained was something of which they might be proud. The company had undoubtedly consolidated, and extended their resources immensely, both from the point of view of obtaining supplies, and also of perfecting their system of distribution, and he had no hesitation in Baying that they could at least hold I heir owr in these respects in every part of the British Empire and in every country where butter or cheese was produced or imported. During the year, French butter had returned to the London market, and MM. Bretel Freres had been nble to maintain supplies all through the winter months, with the satisfactory result that the business was making good progress and rapidly resuming its former importance. .The one item in the accounts which might, perhaps, call for further.explanation,.was the £53,000 profit made by the e*le of certain investments which had bnen placed to credit of reserves. The Board had always held that it was not in the interests of the company to publish details of their investments, but ho had no hesitation in stating that every purchase or s.-ile of their investments was very carefully considered by the whole Board before final decision, and that the profit mentioned had been obtained without in any; way detracting from facilities for distribution or for obtaining supplies. On the contrary, they started the new financial year better_ equipped . m both these respects than they had.ever before been. Busines in all centres had made satisfactory progress and the chairman thanked their directors, 'managing directors, and staffs"here and overseas whose efforts had been instrumental in brin*. ing about such good results. ° Discipline and. Efficiency. t"\ k° n *> n > also, as usual," said Mr Lovell, we have been splendidly helped by the loyal co-operation of our staff, both by ice who have grown up with the. business and by the young blood which has come to us since the war, and which is proving th«t a period of military or naval training is a help to commercial efficiency. t thank them for their keen.work for the old firm" The directors thinking of formulating a scheme of superannuation payment thfadLio- TiE sa - Motion for the adoption of the report, which was unanibTMr" T ° SOlution <*Sd' * iv -J i Ix)Te l J ) was passed to pav a final dividend at the rate of 14s per cLt ♦lk* "hares? making the full dmdend of 10 per cent, for the year^ ASHBURTON CATTLE SALE. The New-Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association held a special cattle saieat the Tiaweld yaris y«terday when there was an entry.of over 250 head, including a f ew fats. I here was a good attendance, and though the prices were below what the vendors hoped for, the great majority of the cattle offered were sold: Fat heifers brought irom £7 17s 6d to £9 12s 6d, and cows £4 2j 6d to £8 10s. Mr H. J. Dillon sent toward several lines of exceptionally well-bred and good, fresh-con-ditioned dairy cows, mostly springers. Third cilvers brought from £8 'ids to £lO. fourth , oalvera £7 10s to £9 ss, fifth calvers £9 5s to £9 10s, and second calvers £7 10s to £lO 10a. Mr A. T. Maidens al«o sent in a few lines of exceptionally well-biEd and good-condi-tioned cows. His third calvers brought £8 to £9 15s, and fourth-cahers £4 15s to £7 10s. On behalf of numerous ether clients the prices obtained for second calvers ranged from £4 53 to £8 ss ; and third carvers £6 to £B. A lot of yearling heifers brought prices ranging from £1 15s to £2 ss. Cows in profit realised £6 10s to £lO 10s. It waa the most important special sale held for many months, and, considering the present shortage of green feed and the fact that there is not likely to be much, growth in the gross for several weeiks, tie sale was regarded as a satisfactory one on the whole. DAIRY PRODUCE. Messrs A. H. Turnbull and Co. are in receipt of the following cablegram from their 1 rrincipftk, W. Weddel and Co., Ltd., dated 24th inst -.-Danish butter 178s to . 180s (last week 178s to 180s); New Zealand, . unsalted 178s to 180s (178s to 180s); salted ■ 178s to 180s (176s to 180 a). Market .firm. • New Zealand, cheese. White 106s to 112s (110s • to 114s); coloured,' 104s to 110s (108s to '3325). Market firm.

FROZEN MEAT MARKET. Kaye and Carter, Ltd. have received cable advice from Gilbert 'Anderson and Co., Ltd., London, of the following Smithfield prices for the past week ending August 24th, 1923 (these prices are on the "delivered" basis, that is, including storage charges, cartage, etc.): —Prime Canterbury lamb, U-3C, lljd; 36-42, lid; 42-50, lOgd. Second quality Canterbury lamb, lOgd. Prime Southland lamb 3, TJ-42, lid; Prime North Island Down lambs, U-36, not quoted; 36-42, not quoted. North Island lambs, ordinary, TJ-12, IOJd. Canterbury prime wethers and (or) maiden ewes, 48-56, BJd; 56-64, 8d; 64-72 7Jd; Southland wethers and (or) maiden ewes, 56-64, 7£d. Best Wjrth Island wether and (oi) maidon ewes, 56-64. Bd. North Island ordinary and (or) maiden ewes, 56-64, 7Jd. Prime ewes, TJ-64, 6d. New Zealand beef (prime ox hinds), 160-220, SJd. Remarks—Lamb: Home supplies plentiful; market weaker. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., • received the following l cablegram from London, under date 24th instant: — New Zealand frozen meat—Lamb, lid per lb (average); mutton, wether and maiden ewe, light, Bjd per lb, heavy 7j|d per lb, ewe, light 6d per lb, heavy 5Jd per lb; beef, no change. Market quiet. lLaat quotations 10-8-23):— Ox hinds, 4Jd per lb, fores 23d per lb;, cow hinds, 4Jd per lb, fores 2Jd per lb. New Zealand Dairy Produce—Batter, choicest 178s to 182s per cwt; cheese, 104 a -to 112s per cwt. Markets firm.