COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1335, 12 January 1912, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES A .-ale of (ioldcn Hay Cement shar-.'S at 225. 9;1, was the only transaction recorded y.'sierday. The buying and selling qtiotaiions were as under:—

TUB WORLD'S WOOL. Some interesting information a? to the world's production and consumption or wool has been compiled by the prc'siacut of the French Permanent Customs Values Commission. He states that the number of sheep in Europe is steadily decreasing; the increase in the yield of wool per sheep has, up to the present, kept tho output of wool on the Continent almost constant, but this will soon cease to be the case, since the vield per sh?ep cannot increase much in the future. The Xorth American flocks should increase in size, at any rate, for. some years to come. Th? Australian (locks, temporarily lessened by drought, ha\e begun to grow again. The nmnber of sheep in Australia and Now Zealand increased from 110,480,000 in 1969 to l'b.li 1 !- 000 in 1910. The yield of wool per sheep has also increased considerably, thanks to judicious crossing, selection, and the infusion of merino blood. In the Argentine the flocks moved into colder regions boro the change of climate very well. The drought of 1909 destroyed many lambs and greatly reduced the output of wool ill 1910, but there is stated to be an improvement ihis vear. The consumption of wool has grown" very slowly in the last decade, increasing during, the ten years 1901-10 by only 13 p;r cent. In 1910 there was nn increase, as compared with 1909, in the consumption in Europe, and especially in ths United Kingdom, and a considerable decline in that in North America. The consumption of raw wool during the year 1910 is estimated to be as follows :— ICOO kilogs. Continent of Kuropc 644.6C0 United Kingdom 277,tC0 Korth America 231,000 Ons kilogramme canals 2.20461b. According to unpublished estimates by 3.1. Ch. Marteau, the consumption of wool in Franco was greater in the last decade of the nineteenth century than in the first ten years of the present. -This is ascribed to two causes, viz., the change in women's dress and the improvements in the dying and making of wool substitutes viz., cotton tissues and mixed stuffs, containing a very large proportion of cotton and shoddy. KODAK (AUSTRALASIA), LIMITED. Kodak (Australasia), Limited, for the year ended September 30 inado a net proilt from the manufacturing, trading, and income from investments of £22,862, as against £21,351 in the preceding 12 months. Th>= profits on the sales of investments was £3483, as compared with £3919, the total carried to credit of profit and loss account being £26,343, or £1072 more than in 1910. The reserve for bad debts absorbed £2000, depreciation £3067, leaving £21,278 as net profit for the year, as against £21/04 in September, 1910. After allowing for interim dividend of Is. per share, paid for the first six months of the year under review, there is a balance of £35,023 at the credit of the profit and loss account, out of which it is proposed to distribute I Is. per share, making 10 per cent, for the i year, and to carry forward tiie balance.

STATION PROPERTY SOLD. The National Mortgage and Agency Company report the sale, on account of Mr. George Rutherford, of his Dalcthorpe property of 17,770 acres at Springfield, together with the whole of the station flock of mirino and half-bred sheep, to Messrs. Itowron and Smith, the flock being noted as one of the best in the Canterbury province. The property has been in the hands of the present owner for 39 years— ho having acquired the freehold from the Government—a.nd it is the first change of ownership during the lengthy period. Tl'o sale was effected through the agency of Messrs. W. J. Hopkins and Co.

Customs duty collected at the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £B*B lis.

A LAXD SALE. HIGH PRICES REALISED. (By Telegraph. Special Correspondent.! Hastings, January 1. A land sale of considerable local interest took place yesterday. A portion of the I'akowhai Estate, situated six miles from Hastings, on the Main Road to Napier, was submitted to auction in the ICing's Theatre; 1020 acres were offered in 39 lots. <uid bidding was very keen; almost the .whole of the lots were sold at prices ranging from £32 per aero up to £74, most of the 'lots realised about £60. The new settlers will depend chiefly upon dairying and fruit-growing to recoup them for the high prices )>aid. The settlement is within a mile and a half of Farndon Station.

LONDON MARKETS. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have received the following cablegram from their London house, under date January 10 :— Wheat.—We have sold an Australian cargo at 365. 7id., c.i.f. The market is firm,, but inactive, to bad weather. The Argentine outlook is uncertain. We quote: Per quarter c.i.f., New Zealand wheat, longberried, 345. 6d.; shortberried, 345. Tallow—Wc quoto present 6pot valuos for the following descriptions:—Good mutton, 355. per cwt.; good beef, 335. od. per owt.; mixed, 51s. 3d. per cwt. The market is dull. TALLOW. By Telegraph—Press A "-satinn—Convright London, January 10. At the tallow sales 1030 casks were offered, and 332 sold. Prims realised: Mutton, tine 365. Gd., medium 335. 3d.; beef, fine 355., medium 325. 6d. WHEAT. London, January 10. Wheat—Fifteen thousand quarters of Australian, per sailer. January-February shipment, sold at 365. 7}d. The American visible supply of wheat is estinlatcd at 118,094,000 bushels. RABBIT SKINS, (ltec. January 11, 9.30 p.m.) London, January 11. Annlng's report on the rabbit skin sale states that tUT»:e is a better demand and a half-penny to a penny rise, except for prime pelts suitable for furriers, which rose twenty per centum..

Buyers, Sellers £ s. il. £ i. (1. Enuilaide HuildinK 10 0 0 - N.Z. and l!iv?r Plate 2 10 - Weil. Invectiuent (I 1! 3 V.'cll. 'J'ni-'t ami Loan ... 7 12 6 Xuticm.'il Insurance — 1 18 9 Meat Export (•«' — S 0 0 Meat lixii.nt (62s. Cd.l ... - 3 0 0 X.Z. Shipping - 17 10 0 Well. Woollen (onl.) - 3 " 6 Taupiri Coal 10 9 - Wcstport Coal -- . 17 9 Tariiigamnln Toiara - 2 8 0 C. H. Han);?, Md - - '00 Golden Hay Cement 1 2 6 13 0 Mainiins and Co — 4 12 0 X.Z. Con. Denial - 12 9 X.Z. Taper Milis 10 0 -- Ward ai:il Co 5 9 0 a 12 6