COMMERCIAL

Evening Star, Issue 7472, 16 March 1888, Page 3

COMMERCIAL

The amount o! revenue collected at the Customhouse on poods cleared tc-day for consumption was V>S2 ISjG'. Tne Auckland ' Herald' calls attention to the large profits of the lc.cl millers. Thov produce fine flourat LO 5* a ton, and sell it at LI I ss! Cable advices from Mauritim to Ist March were received in town this morning. The market was dull, prlcts unaltored, and no shipment had been made since the Salad o on 16th November. A priv.ite telegram from Adelaide, received in Ch iatchurch on na>B:-"We are (ffering cargoes fo> March' or Aptil shipments at 33s 3d per quarter, oos', freiaht, and insurance and sacks; consignment free. Not much busines* resulting." At Sunderland County Court in January, Meynell giv» an important judgment iu regard to t'to Sunlerland Universal Building S>cieticß, now in liquidation. There are fan soci«-)ie», and the I'quicl*t rn fought to nuke the directors liable for sunn awiiting iu tho acgrcgAte to 1.93,000, alleging that they h'd illegally advanced money from ono society to sn ther. The Judge held that the directors were liable ; but, »«theciso waß a test one, he would grant a case for sppe*i. , Tho returns of immigration and emigration for February, puMlshed bv the Government, show a tnlance ugalnbt the clony <f 193 The principal dupai lures are stated as from Auckland and the Bluff, these being the last ports of ca 1. At Auckland the excess of departures wero 205, a>-d at the Bluff 338. Tho lotals aro given—arrivals 1,503, departures 1,480. Of the arrivals 400 were from the United Kingdom, 747 from the Australi m colonics, and 8G from other plaoi s. Of the departures 108 were for the United Kingdom, 1,*9 l for the Australian colonies, and 87 for other yho v. Wi- have on several occasions pointed out how unreliable these figures supplied by the Customs • (trials an. Thomas Halsted HarKy, of Nelson, has been ad-ju-ilcitcd abankiupt on the petition of the Bank of New South Wales, in which the debtor is stated to te indebted to the lnnk in 'he sum of L 7 268 2s Gd for a portion ci which, viz. L 7.166 15a 6d, tho bank has ohlaii ed judgment. Th« affidavit also sets forth that the hink holds securities on the said deM valued »t LG.BOO. The debtor, who was said to hare left Nelson, was not represented.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. The followinr are tho agricultural statistics tor Tuapeka: Number of ho'dings freehold, 880; rented, 105; parr, rented »nd part freehold, 35 ; total, 5"0 Land brck n but not under crop, 5 518 acres; wheat sown for r a'li, 5,599 acres; estimated produce, 150 145 bushel". Oa's : For green food or hay, 2,084 acres- for rrain, 14,432 acres; estimated produce train, 588.T90 bu-hels. Birky, 424 acres ; produce, 9 737 bushels; rye, 15 icrcß; produce, 526 bruhels ; peas 7 »c es; produce.llSO bushes; beans, }-aere ; produce, 20 bu*hels. Grass for hay, 724 aores; produce 1,134 tons; aftsr bavin? been broken up (such ai for hay, etc.), 44,107 acres; crass Bown not previou ly ploughed (such as for hay, etc.), 5,9i4 acred. Grass seed: Cocksfoo\ 1.013 bu hels; ry.grass, 18,788 bmhels. Potatoes 307 acres; prortuco, 1,475 tons. Turnips and rape, 14,590 acres; manifolds, beet, eta, U aoros; other cropß, 10 ncree; garden, 16 acres; oichard, 113 acres; plantations forest trees, 107 acres; total aores under orop, inc'uding sawn grasses, 84,478. —'TuapekaTimes.* , ~ ~ , L The average yield par aore In the Wai'aki district for wheat is SI j bushels; for oats, about 85 bushels ; for barley, 80 bushels ; and for potatoes, about 6 tons ta the acre Tho several tota's are: Wheat 1,061,198 bu?hel9; o ts, 067,957 bushels; barley, 41,949 bußhels ; potatoes, 25,034 tons Last year tbe area in wheat was 23.959J sores, and tho yield was 713,165 bushels, equal to 80J bushels per aoro: In oats, 25,178 acres the yield 698 563 bushels, or 27i bushels to the aore; in barley, 772 acres, yield 20.682 bushels, or 26 h bushels to the aoie ; in potatoes 3,267 aores, yield 19 604 tons, or 6 tons to the cere. It will be seen that in'all th» cereals tho viclds this year are somewhat similar to Ust.-' North Otago Times.'

OUR DAIRY PRGDUDE IN GLASGOW. Mr J. L. M'Donald has just received a letter from a firm cf provision merchants in Glasgow, from which tho ' Southland Times' has been permitted to make th<- following ex'r c k , hearing upon the position of New Z 'aland butter and cheese in that city ;- " Wo have been Bellini; some Ids of New Zealand ohecEO an! butter in thU market, and think there is a future in tho businefs. American clvese are at present worth up to 60s per cwt, and Home to 655. Any New Zealand cheese we have s»en hitherto have been ovcrkept, and, we believe, on this si 'e, thtounh being consigned to firms who w. re not in a position to sell them promptly. As far as we cm judge of the quality, however, if -cc-ived in good condition. New Zealand cheese would sell freely and bung at least tho same mice as finest American. Tho butter we hive seen has been v.ry and if not too long kept would be worth at tho moment about 9.>s to 105s per cwt hore. These prices are what we consider the present value of he artie'eg and are of courso subject to the market fluctuations.

MINING NOTES. I Tho Sydney correspondent of the ■ Argu*' telegraphed on the sth inst. : —'* It la CBtiranted that a quarter si a million sterling changed hands in connection with tho silvor-n-ining sh:>re transact ons last week, and business is again brisk to-day, although prices, except in a few kadhg lines, are rather dull Soveral now companies on the Brokon Hill lino'and ne r the Mount Cobtlg-in property, Tuena, have been floated during the but few days. Tbo shares wore quoted at a premium almost hrforo the allotment W'O completed" The following day tho same authority nays: —"The mining market is attain active to-day. Tho principal lines of silver shws suffcrrd a temporary fa'l in price this morning, but as the f'ny worn on the quotations revived and'sharos closed at values equal to those of the previous day. Tho Mount, Costig«n North Mli.ir a Company, Tuena, has been floated with a capital of LIOO.OOO. A'l tho shares were applied for seven times over before tho prospec'us was pnMwhed.and this case affords a fair illust atlon of tho eagorneas with which new silver-mining ventures are rushed by speculator?."

RAILWAY RETURNS. The returns of tho forttefoujeekj ended February 4, when thora were 1,768 miles Of road optn against 1,661 in 1887, show that the gross rece pta »-ere L 810.041 the North Island l»n?8 J' ,eldin K J', 2 „ 6 '??7' and the Southern lines L 64 417. The expenditure^ m M 8.0&7 on the Northern, and L 30.424 on tho Southern lines, as against L 20.833 and L 55.819 respectively for the corresponding period of 1887. Tho revenue to expenditure was 69.82 against 71.78.1a5t year, tta< re being an appreciable gala on the Soutnern geotions, but the Northern ones almost remained stationary.

The following are tho returns for the Hu'UiwiBluff section for the same p iiod :

MINING NOTES. Some stone obtained from the neighborhood of Tcrawhitl has bsen assayed by Sir James Hector, and yielded at tho rate of Boz, 6oz, and 48oz to the ton respectively. Tho discoverer has got a quantity of specim-ns, and, when asked why ho had not brought in any, ho said, knowing they contained gold, he did not t-onble, but only brought stuff that did not show gold to be tested.

1888. 1887. Passengers— First-class Second-class 8. 14,226 47,470 R. 27,878 71,326 a. 15 112 49,690 K. 25.9'i8 71,832 Total 61,696 99,204 61,802 97.F40 Feason Tickets .. 893 .. .. 867 No. No. Parcels, etc 19,; 90 19 635 Goed3 — Drays .. Cattle .. Calves.. Sheep .. Pigs .. No. 42 621 84 45,918 610 No. SO 855 36 45,703 1,622 Total 47,225 Tonp. 48,246 Tors. Chaff, etc. Wool .. Firewood Timber Groin .. Merchandise . Minerals 89J 16,444 1,410 4.81S 14,414 24,078 19,332 770 15.178 1,730 6 684 11,929 22,949 22,620 Total 81,391 81,860 Revenue— Passengers Parcels and luggage Goods . Miscellaneous .. R«nts and commission .. £ 17,632 1,749 29,747 527 £ 17,555 1,738 30,075 623 492 Total 650.312 £50,485