COMMERCIAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14930, 1 March 1912, Page 5

COMMERCIAL

MARKET REPORT.

BUSINESS FAIRLY BRISK.

niSTMBCTiNO business generally continues S,W brisk, and a better demand is now " Ming experienced in tho country district. , 1 ., nt volume of business exceeds that of tho imo period of last year. Arrivals of 33ntbh goods are more consistent, but there ' • L ,till room for improvement. ■'•' Wholesale soft goods trade is rather quiet; ' ' this is mainly owing to tho unseasonable ' ■'■■ weather being experienced in this province .',' • Darned Fruits: New season's prices have ...'; been named for the well-known brands, and •'' a fair business has loon contracted for. prices are on a fairly safe level, and buyers ' ' "ooVoring at this early date will reap full '■ -advantage in the event of prices advancing through failure of crop, etc. ■.; i Cream of Tartar Advices received notify that this market has firmed up slightly, and this we anticipated in our last advice, > Tartaric Acid: Stocks on tho spot are ex•v'■'.:'■*'tremelv short at tho present time, and re- '' '--■' plenishing shipments aro awaited. Tho *■ Market is firm at present rates. ■ : ." Bli.cstone is rather scarce on tho spot-, ' V and fair business has been put through for ■. ': forward shipments. Cornflour: Manufacturers advise that tho ■ ' cost of maize is likely to advance, and this 'y- 'Vshould bo reflected in cornflour quotation '■'"~ Mi it near date ' . Xlilduriv Sutanas: Owing to tho extremely ; 'hiffh prices ruling for this fruit, practically ,;: no business has resulted, notwithstanding ' : the high class oi tho fruit that is being : : :f; jjuj- First-class quality aro almost un- ';: procurable, and holders aro able, to obtain :•'fancy prices for same. , : Vv'Dates: This market is practically bore of i supplies, and thero does not seem much pro- !''■'::; bability of prices declining until next sea- ■;'" Jordan almonds aro quoted en a reasonv; able basis, but tho said is somewhat lestricted at this time of tho year. Buyers :;r would do well to cover their requirements Wm for the Easter trade " ,i' Prunes aro in strong demand, and we . should not bo surprised to soo a shortage in stocks before very long. y':" j fy- Potatoes: locals aro still coming in fairly freely, and keeping the market supplied. llfp The recent rain is likely to interfere with : - digging, but the stocks in town aro good. ■ The price remains the samo at £4- 15s for ' .locals, and £5 10s for Southern. There ' ~"' havo been no consignments from South since our last report. Onions aro still scarce, with a good do- '' mand, which has increased the prico to £10 ■ per 1 ton. . Oats The market is not overstocked, owing to arrivals meeting with keen competition. Old oats are practically finished. The s position in tho South is a little bettor, owing to the weather being moro favourable, and oats aro being offered a little more freely. The price of new oats is 2s lid. ' Algerians: The demand for sow! oat 3is . just starting, but good samples bra scarce. . There will bo practically no Australians im- '.■ j; ported hero tins year. Price Tor good samples New Zealand 3s 6d. There are still . a few Australians carri<<cl over from last yew, price 4s. Chaff: Local is offering more freely, but ' the difficulty is to got it cut, owing to i.nfavourable weather. Thero seem to bo very good crops right through the Auck- , , • land district. The Homodalo arrived at ■ Onehunga this week from Blenheim with a good shipment. Price of local is £4 15s, . : and Southern £5 10s. Fowl Wheat: Stocks in town are fair, but wheat is meeting with a good demand owing to tho high price of maize. Now wheat is expected from tho South in about two weeks' time. Prices seem slightly easier. The present price of old wheat is ; ' 4s 6i'- , , ' :,'. ■ ■■ ,- Alaizes: Tho Kaco brought a shipment 'of 731 sacks from the coast, which was readily disposed of. Owing to tho very -slight stocks on the coast, the price remains firm at 43 6d ex store. ' Bran: Stocks in town aro good, with a fair demand. The price is still the same, £5 12s6d, '' .Pollard is still very scarce, with good in- - quiries.'''Small lots arriving from the South '..' ;,|, meet" with a very ready sale. The quota-tion-is £7 10a. :.■■■■<: ; ' Flour: The quotations for flour remain ''at'the same firm price. Northern Roller is '.! worth £10 15s, and Southern flour £9 lbs , per ton locally. . ; Fungus: Moderate quantities aro coming "■fa hand, and the price for good dry lota ' 3 4d, which meets with a ready sale. ■ : Flax is not coming to hand in any great i quantities. London advices show practically Utile or no change. There is soma -business passing, but prices have < easod .somewhat. Local quotations• Ere—£l7 safor ■E.f.a.q., £15 -15s-for f.a.q., and £15 53 for

, common. : "' ; . ' ■'• -.Tow: Consignments coming forward are 1 still being absorbed by local buyers. , \ Tea: The gain of the producers has been largely at the expense of tho merchants, ' who'in various grades of the trade form the '■' connecting links of the commercial chain. -"In many markets, especially of perishable ■ provisions like butter, bacon and cheese, t»the retail prices are elastic, and follow the course of tho -wholesale. Tea has always i Hen fairly firmly established in grades of fixed price, and in the good old times, ■''"when' it provided the mainstay of a retail . grocer's profits, fluctuations in the ruling "markets meant merely an increase or dimi- '. station in what was,' at the worst, a substantial profit. Now that tea is a severely competitive line, and that pushing retailors are continually selling somo of it at less .than cost, the advance in price has been ■. paid for to a great extent by the whole- ' , sale merchants. It may. pretty safely bo , reckoned that, on tho aggregate of the '. i. year's trading in tea, there has been a ; ; Urge falling off in tho wholesale merchants' , profit. '", KAURI GUM MARKET. Tho arrivals for February are 636 }"- tons, •■ showing an increase of 87 I■vfj.tons over the month of January, when the t,\ arrivals were 576 tons. There is a con- ; tinuance of steady business, although iiot I extensive, and shippers are operating all ji round.. Holdings in the hands of brokers :iif; have not materially increased. The scarcity P:!, of superior grades of ordinary gum still ,'*;,.* continues, but buyers will not increase their |H prices, as their limits will not enable them ' , to do so. >■' ' Pale select is still scarce, though in dc- ; i, mand. Ordinary: Good rescraped is still m de-:.;}-,mand, with buyers of inferior lo's. Soiled |Ijsuperior three-quartor scraped ordinary meets with a ready sale at previous low | fe* rates. U.nsorted lots of superior ordinary I m are salable, and there aro buyers of aietltum >/; ordinary and extra well-cleaned wat bed ;;;;* nuts. Coated nuts are salable with a fair '~ demand. Good swamp with heart _in it, Ji:. and poor white swamp, aro easily disposed .fof. Medium swamp is not now in demand y;. All these grades require to be well dried. is'.-V-->'Jsast Coast: Good lines meek with ready HP, hut any lots containing garbs find Poor bush arc passed over. 5; .;...Black: Good rescraped is in steady de- j '?,' mand. Bold lumps, thoroughly sound and i well cleaned, meet, with ready sale. There y ' Wo'buyers of sorted three-quarter scraped iI *teel, but unsorted blacks are neglected KE/v lO demand for medium black continues, H -;al80 bold hard nuts. Business in poor black ( ;:.j nuts, mixed with white swampy nuts,. has I T transpired, but the inquiry has now ceased. mm Bush: The demand for roscrapeel bush, • Palo and bold, and bold bled bush of good Mi colour, continues. ,;■• Chips and Dust: All kinds of chips and H dust meet with fairly ready sale, but lots !§;'. containing earth and poor "black riddlings § containing fern root, are hanging fire. ' • THAMES GAS COMPANY. b ■/':'■ ':>■ ■".--• - ONE SHILLING DIVIDEND DECLARED. .-. - nJP 19 half-yearly general meeting of tho '">, Iharaes Gas Company was held yesterday . at the office of the secretary (Mr. W. B. :lt A. Morrison). Hobson Buildings, Short"■lipf 1 ' Mr. William Mm proWMi [he balance-sheet shewed a balance brought forward from .July 11 of £1435 5s R 'te ims a dividend amounting to ■fi'HO 13s Was paid to shareholders, leav- : 55 balance to profit mA loss account or pi 2s 3d. Out of this amount tho directors decided to pay the ueual divi " tf/m* of *" per snaro > which would take • -Mm 2s, leaving £582 Os 3d to carry for- .;' flfMd. . 'i I PROPERTY SALES. :> >V «u^nn a \wJ ,00 , n ' Mr - J - Tbornes will sell P«t»«t*i.T.'i the lan<i "Jo roomi, 83, sioeen•aotwentSS, 0 ' f^ ht Tmm *> on toehold ■'*wwt I th ," Montage, situated In Grahamfe,,? tw ? buUdiajr iitei at Western . *«"*5 U»ad, Mqrnineiide, eiuch bavins 66ft . ■ • ill--: s ;"■' v • ■'.■■-■■.■■■'■ : : : y- r;;'■■:'■

frontage by ■ 264h\ Particular* will be found In our advertising columns. \ Messrs. T. Mandeno Jackson will sell by publio auction, at their rooms, Customs-street East, ft 11 o clock to-day, an up-to-date residence of seven rooms and conveniences, standing on a volcanio section having 50ft frontage to Efrlington-ntreet (off Stokes Road), Mount Eden, by a depth of 200 ft; also, six nx:ll-built villas, with convenience, each standing on section having 66ft frontage, situated in Clevcdon end Station Heads, Otahuhu, within three minute* of school, post office, eto. 3ho well-known yacht Autere. complete with all gear, rigging, etc,, will be offered for auction at the Wynyard Tier, King's Drive, at 1.15 p.m. todav. I " —-———__________ , AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. By Telegraph.—Press Association—Copyright (Beceivcd February 29, 10.40 p.m.) i SYDNEY, February 29. Wheat. 3s 7id to 3s 7Jd: flour. £8 15s: , oats, Algerian, 3s 6d: barley. Cape 4s lOd to ss. Knglisb malting 4s 6d to ss; maize, 4s 4d to ,4s. 8d; bran, £5 )0s; pollard. £5 , potatoes. £6 10s to £8; onions, £8; butter, selected 120s. prime 108s to 116s; choose, Bid; bacon. 7ld. MELBOUBNX, February 29. ' In the hides market supplies wore light. Kips wero easy, but prices of others wero. firm, " Adelaide. February 29. Wheat, 3s 6Jd to 3s BJd; flour, to £8 15s; bran and pollard, i 8 2d to Is ljd; oats, 2s lid to 3s. DUNEDIN GRAIN MARKET. iBT tTajtGßArn.—wiess ASSOCIATION.] DUNEDIN, Thursday. There is good inquiry for new season's oats, but as yet only few sampled have come to hand. Stocks of old oats are practically exhausted. Prime milling to fJ «a, t'ood to best feed 2s 2d to 2s 3d, lnnor to medium Is lOd to 2s Id. ■There are now new samples of wheat Ottering, and stocks of old are pretty well sold out. The inquiry for the latter is not keen. Fowl wheat is in good demand. Prune milling Velvet. 3s loi to 3s lid; Tuscan. 3s lOd to 3s lOJd; best fowl wheat, os 3d to os lOd, medium 3s od to 3s 6d. WAIKATO SALES. The Farmers' Auctioneering Company reports:— * \vo held our annual Ngaruawahia sheep lair on \\eunesday, FeDruary 21, yarding li.o/i sneep. . There was a large attendance or buyers and a good demand lor all classes, rnces unproved as tho sale advanced, and in the end there was an unsatisfied demand tor good sound breeding ewes and iresh wethers. With the exception of 514 sheep all . wero disposed of. Forward woolly lambs. 8s 6d to 10s 7d; well-grown fresh-con-ditioned shorn lambs. 7s 6d to 8s 6d; cull lambs, ;« to 6s; two-tooth ewes, extra good los 6d to 14s 6d, smaller lots 10s 6d to lis; good-framed four-year-old ewes, 12s to 13s 9d: sound mouth lair ewes. 9s 6d to lis; aged ev?©s. 7s 6d to 9s; fat and forward four-tooth wethers, 14s to 15s Bdj forward two-tooth wethers. 12s 6d to 13s 9d; smaller sheep. 10s 6d to lis 6d. At Waihou on Friday, February 23. we held our usual tri-wcekly stock sale. The yarding consisted of 1813 sheep. 69 pigs, and 554 cattle. The demand for fat sheep and cattle was not great, and only part of the entry was sold. There was a keen demand for pigs. Store cattle and calves were a little easier than last sale. Fat ewe*. 12s 3d; fat woolly lambs, 10s 6d to lis; store shorn lambs. 7? 6d; small woolly lambs. 6s 6d to 8s 3d two-tooth ewes, 13s 6d; twotooth wethers, 14s 6d to 14s 7d: full-mouth ewes, 5s 6d to 9s 7d. Pigs: Slips. 7s 6d to 10s; weaners. 13s to 21s. Cattle: Fat steers, £9; fat cows. £5 4s to £6 ss; fat heifers, £5 Is: store cows, £3'to £3 15s; choice dairy heifers in calf. 2i year-olds, £4 17s 6d to £5 10s; good calves, £1 16s to £2 2s; smaller sorts, £1 69 to £1 10s. On February 22 the annual ram fair was held in the Ohaupo Yards. Our entries totalled 8*) rams. The entry was much beyond requirements; tho sale was a very dull, dragging: one. and only a limited amount of business was done. Eomneys made from 23gns to 6gns. the majority about former price; Lincoln rams, Signs to 3igns, but the quality of those yarded was indifferent; English Leicester rams. ljgns to SJens, the best rams of this breed being from Mr. R. Bremer, of Waverley. and these made from 3gns to 7igne; Shropshire rams, len to 21gns; Southdowns, 2gns. Mr. Walter Chitty's Bomney flock sold as follows:— Ewes, 2gns to Sgns; ewe lambs, linns. Tho Farmers' Auctioneering Company reports:— ■- ■ On February 24 we held a sheep fair in the Matiere (Ohura) Yards, the yarding totalling 3340 sheep. There was fair competition and all were sold except 497. Six and eight-tooth ewes of a good class. 10s 6d to 12s Id; fair two-tooth ewes. 13a 3d; cull two-tooth ewes. 9s 8d: lambs, 3s 9d to 5s 6d: aged ewes. 2s 9d to 5s 6d: aged but soundmouth ewes. 6s 6d ■to 8a 6d; two-tooth wethers. 12s Id to 12% lOd; fat!wethers. 15s 6d: Bonnier rams, 4Jgns; aged rams, 5s to 303. ' ___________ " ' - HIDES. SKINS, AND TALLOW. Messrs. O. W. Binncy and Sons report as folOn' Tuesday we offered and cleared extra large catalogues of hides, skins, and tallow. Hidras: Market firm, with good „ competition for all clause*. Ox. extra stout 7Jd to Sid, stout 7d to 7id. medium .to 6Jd, light bid to 6Jd: cows, extra (rood 6Jd to 6}d, good M to 6Jd. seconds s*d to sid; »ta«*, «Ad to sid ; kips, sid to &id : yearlings, Sid to 61d ; eoU»kin.Vbert Bid to 9*d, good 7d to 7«, meaty 6d to 6Jd; cut and damaged hides, 3id to 4Jd Market firm with 5 good competition. Picked tskrns 6s 4d to 7a, large 5s 4d to 6«, medium 4» 4d to 4s lOd. best pelts and lambskins 2s 9d to 3s Id: country, best pelts and lambirtnns 2s 6d to 2* 3d. medium 2s to & 3d, dry skins, large, double fleeces 7s to 8s M, good «s 3d to 5» 9d. medium 3s 3d to 4«. wriall 2* to , s ''; best pelts Is 3d to Is 6d small W .Is; beat lambskins 1* 6d to 2*. small Is to la M each . Tallow: Market firm. Best muted in shipment casks. 27s 6d to 23s 6d'. good, 23* to 25» 6d; medium. 20a to 22s M; inferior. 18s to 19s 6d per cwt. '■".:.*''• v. Rough fat, ljd to ljd per lb. Cowtails. Is 8d per do»en ' Bones: Good dry, £4 17s M to £5 per ton Wool: Bags and dumps Belling freely , F«J, Bid to 7id; bailies and pieces. 4id to 5Jd; locks, 3d to 3_d V*r lb.