MERCANTILE NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13146, 7 April 1906, Page 7

MERCANTILE NOTES AND COMMENTS.

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER EXPORTS*, The total '.'quantity of butter imported'' into;the United Kingdom from / New Zealand during the month of, January amounted ta' . 44,158cwt.' / or the' corresponding month last year the amount was 45,700 cwt. The president of the Board' of :■ Agriculture of';/ Great Britain has promised to appoint ai v select committee of the House ; of Common* :-.:' for the purpose 'of exhaustively'.' threshing" out the question : 'of 'the; blending and the adulteration of butter, with the object of stopping the "faking" and adulteration ati present so extensively: practiced. The appointment of the committee should, •meet with universal approval; as it is the best ! and most efficient way of dealing with th© '■■' subject.. .. ,

, WOOL IN 1905. , • The past year has been a prosperous period " for the wool trade, and a retrospective view, shows that the raw material has ruled the ;-, .situation. In a few branches of the textile '■■-.''■• : ;trade .difficulties have been encountered,**, g, but, generally speaking,-trade has been the best for several years. ■ ■ Seldom \ have two" " leading factors— and demand— "'"'"' so nearly balanced. Slowly but'surely an increasing consumption for a few years past has been gaining ground upon supplies, the culminating point being in 1905. — Eight) •. years of successive droughts in Australia,; affected plies,; and were a repetition of 4 even two or three years of similar condi- • ~,-/ tions to set in now wool prices would again' advance considerably, - Perhaps it is aa well for both producers arid users .that pro- ■„'-. spects point- to some alleviation of , short supplies in the coming months, especially ass ....,■ trade" :i.-: so good that it Is practically certain V that all available wool , will be wanted. CANADIAN OIL INDUSTRY. - j That Canada may one day become an '" important, oil-producing country - has long been recognised by experts, and the re- i*' cent appearance of agents of the Standard. ' Oil Company .in, the Saraia and Petroled districts of Ontario ris regarded as signifi- -.M cant of the potentialities of the industry.; 1 ■■ >' Fortunately, the best, oil areas in On- u J tario have already been * secured by ~an " ' English company (the Canadian Oilfields,- " '" Limited), which has been at work for some yers, and is now turning out upwards of 35,000 barrels per annum,' It is" claimed] for the Canadian oil industry that it is : V'fc more advantageously placed than its com- '.':'■. petitors in any other .country. , The oil is •■' found at such shallow depths that. cost .'of/; drilling and equipment is only, trifling,-' r while the flow is said to be remarkably : steady, as is proved by the fact that well*:. • in the district which were tapped 30years-." ago are still giving supplied ? continuously. Oil is very greatly in demand in the Dominion, and hitherto the bulk of it has had " to bo imported. With a view to encourag- -..,= ing the local industry, the Government of "; the Dominion has placed a bonus of 2dol. .-."; y on every barrel produced, which, added to! *5 the high price obtainable, makes the busi- - \ ness ii very profitable one. ~ - THE AMERICAN COPPER DISPUTE..,.",;. The most interesting development in re- ,_■ fined copper in! America recently has been \:y the settlement ' of the difficulties between the Amalgamated and Heinze copper in- : - terests. This settlement .eliminates a. dis- I? turbing factor, but- does not necessarily . mean higher prices, or even the mainten- • ance of the present high level, 'as seems - to be inferred by those who take a merely i:, superficial view of the situation. Thai * American consumption .is liberal, and v is ; r ... likely to continue large for many monthi does not alter the fact that,:/ with more ■, ; -'>-'. metal produced and a,, contracted foreign outlet, there . will bo an- accumulation ;in ■-, the hands of producers unless more reason* i. able prices stimulate foreign .. purchases.-,- -. Even with increased exports it will be dif-< • ficult to prevent an - accumulation of cop-' per during the next six months. - CANADIAN WHEAT CROP. The Minister for Trade and Commerce- at! - - Ottawa slates that up .to the present time 43,000,000 bushels of wheat grown during : last season in Western Canada have been: inspected by the Government 'officials, and: also that it is estimated that-there are held in store the following quantities:—By eleva- ,: tors in the interior, 18.000,000 bushels ; by flour mills, 9,000,000 bushels; retained by, . farmers for seed,: etc., 9.000,000 bushels*;! ,; yet to be marketed.: 8,000,000 bushels;}, total. 44,000,000 bushels. This shows that ; '■; the" North-West crop of 1905 yielded about* , . ■87,000,000 bushels of wheat. ' ~" THE WORLD'S SILVER OUTPUT. " * Statistics with relation to silver am growing in importance again since the value ', of that: metal and the demand for it -have ■ increased. In 1902 the total output of the -~. world's silver mines dropped to m value of "•'.; £16,318,731, and 162.763,4830z.~ For last ; _ year the total production >■is estimated at a, v'" value of £19,885,937 and 171,600,0000z. -In, the firstnamed year the highest, lowest, and average prices of silver in London were 26|d,' w high, 21 U-16d low, and averaged 24 Mod. The next year (1903) the year's average was . 24|d ;': in 1904 the average was 26|d; and ' / in 1905 the average whs 27 13-16 d. Of the ' 1905 output'-the United States is estimated " to have contributed 59 million *.ounces, * \ Mexico 60 millions, Australia; 15£ millions, and' all other producers 37 million ounces. ■I, The Mexico total shows a decrease of about 800,000oz on the previous year, but in every other instance ai fair increase is shown. ?'jM'' study of the silver prices -and! the''annual"" silver production figures for, the > past !TO _ ' years indicates that the renewed advance, of . the white metal ;is a ■ healthy., recovery , ; , rather ', than a speculative movement. , AMERICAN COAL OUTPUT. Mr. Seymour Bell. British Consular Agent lin the United States,, reports ; that* y ■■-- the. production of coal in, the United States L . in 1904 was 4,500,000 tons less than that ofthe year previous. In 1904 the prodnc- • tion amounted to 314,562,882 tons, valued 'jut 444,816,288d015. The average price per . - ton ' in 1903 i was Tdol > 58c., as compared! ri - ■ ; with Idol. 41c. in . 1904. ,It must ■be re*. v membered, however, that ; the largo pro* duction in 1903 wa« exceptional owing to . the strike in the anthracite region in! 902..".•' having -exhausted the stocks, not only of _ anthracite, but of bituminous 'as well. As the exports ,of coal from the United States in 1904 amounted to only; 2,228,392 tons, •. the enormous quantity. of 312,334,489 tons : > was consumed in the country. '*' This en- *.' ables one to realise to a certain extent the tremendous development of the manufacturing industry... /'_:""."..'., . . GAS LIGHTING AND ELECTRICITY A commercial war of great magnitude has been in progress for some, time, and'the , end is certainly not in sight. The steam engine is being attacked "by gas * and oil;.' ;; electricity is m a similar plight. ■ y The - drift of competent opinion in certain direclions, says The Engineer] of London, is to .?•■ the effect that electricity, has seen its best --..:■. day. Indisputably the 'improvements . which have been rendered possible in gaslighting by the thorium mantle have gone : : far to justify the assertion which has been; made that gas is the best illuminant in the _~; world. But the incandescent . electric . lamp may yet be improved, or even superseded. All that can be said at present is that the future of electricity seems to* " lie in the field of power distribution rather r than of lighting. Gas' lighting would ' halve beaten electricity out; of the market some time since if it had not been for the ■'■•■■ immeasurably greater excellence of the latter in all that concerns cleanliness, heatingjv a and purity of air. /'But improvements ; are 0 ; daily being made in gas lighting, unparal- .' ?, leled by anything:; that is going on.in. ; elec- ;:; ; tricity. ; See the array of waterproof 00ats: at , 235, 255, 30s, '355, 39a 6d.:- The only place to get winter coats is at the Beehive, Karangrahapa = Road. ■■-..; ?-•.;■■■ ~■,■■_;.>. '■:■: : :■ , ■;'.■•- :.y- ■::;■;: y:''r : : %yyi'iy : yj'^ r i : '4V