COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17429, 26 March 1920, Page 3

COMMERCIAL.

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. THE» WOOL MARKET. PRICES FOR PRODUCE. The wholesale houses report a busy week, being kept fully engaged on orders for April account. Buyers are operating with con- '■ fidence, as they apparently realise that they j cannot very well go wrong in regard to : prices. This time last year there was a, ; decided lull in trade, many business people ! having an idea that prices would fall, but although a few fell, confirming people in the idea that the top had* been reached, there has really been a steady advance ever since, and prices are higher to-day than they have ever been. Advanced Prices: rvuring the last few ' days an advance has taken pl.ace in candles, ' kerosene, eoap, soda crystals, clothes pegs, : cornsacks. Jjenzine. ui.axic acid, cream °of ! tartar, baking powder, essences, hops, cocoa : chocolates, , jelly crystals, rice, pepper, cur- ! rants, raisina, sultanas, dried apricots can- ! ned pineapples, macaroni, vermicelli, dried ; peas and paper bags, and all these i»mmo- : Sf tS,!? 1 * ln l™*<i supply. In the lace 01 such a list of advances, it looks as if Duying is fairly safe wnen it comes to imported articles in the provision trade. The prospects are very similar in son goooa and hardware, local prices having not yet risen to a point With British export coßts. Products: Slim, utmost confidence exists 111 regard to prices of local products, and farmers feel assured of a record season next year. It does not appear to be generally appreciated that no rise is necessary in. the world's markets to return the iNew /ieaiand farmer an enormous increase on the receipts of the last five seasons aa that is necessary is to get sufficient' chipping to carry our products to the world a markets. . . Bise in Crossbred Wools. Wool: The position warrants the closest attention and interest of sheep-farmers, as there is ample room for an enormous increase on the wool returns as coon as the requisition ceases in June. Cable messages this morning show one 01 the most significant moves in the market that has ever taken place, viz., an advance of 10 per cent, in crossbreds. tor a long time the rise ■has been most .marked in Merinos, in which ■New Zealand is not particularly interested, so that a rise in crossbreds is all tae more welcome. It is of course, common property that during file requisition the sneepfarmers of Australia and New Zealand have obtained 55 per cent on pre-war values for their wool, but it is not so well known how the world s market has moved in the interval. As there are scores of different grades S'« wot ?J # ?" Belh ?& »* different prices, it is difficult to tabulate the quotations, and a better comparison is prubauiy obtainable by dealing with tops, that is to say. wool that has undergone its first process m manufacture. Typical qualities are 64's, or Menno, of which very little is Brown in r\ew Zealand, 56's which about correspond with our. best South Island half bred, and 46' which, are made from medium crossbred such as the North Island produces in abundance. The records show that the average increase at the first free sale after iJ— war in April. 1919 was about 150 per cent, above the prices ruling in April, 1914, and further advances nave taken place since, so that an enormous dividend ought to be payable to our farmers if they are to get half the profit that was made on what was obtained over and above 55 per cent, above pre-war prices At various periods the prices were as follows:

Tops. ApriL April. July Jan. Mar 1914 1919 1919 1920 1920 s. d. s. d. a. d. 8. d. 8. d. 64 3 . . 2 6J 6 4 8 6 11 2 12 9 56's ..2 52 62 70 79 4sß ..16 39 ? 34 36 It will be noticed that no advance has taken place in crossbreds since this time las*, year, nearly all the cablegrams making special reference to the higher grades, 2,nd that is the reason why the present cabled report is of paramount importance. Advices by mail report a decided improvement in the demand for crossbreds, largely owing to American buying, whereas French' buy "fas largely in the finer wools. Potatoes in Good Supply. Potatoes: Ample quantities are corning in, and the market is unchanged at 15s 6d ex store for good quality. Onions: Several „ small lots have arrived from th»; South, and there will be sufficient 1 for the mail steamer next week. ' This opporj tunity for export is timely for producers, as j a good crop was secured in the South, and it looks as if the growers will be successful I in holding up the price, especially as export i is,also taking place to San Francisco. The purely local demand is not very heavy, and best samples are moving off at 15s to 16s per cwt. Oats: The same difference still exists between the local opinion and that ci the Southern growers, the latter expecting a further increase on the present high rates. Locally the demand is very quiet, and only small lots are moving off at 6s 7a, ex store. Wheat: Fowl wheat is supposed to be worth about 10s 6d to lis ex store, but very little is to be had at any price. Chaff: Several consignments have been landed during the week, and these were all' distributed in an active market. Southern chaff keeps firm at 15s 6d ex store, but-local is a little easier, a result of increased, supplies.. Best quality is quoted at lis to 12s. Maize: The market has eased considerably, in view atg* large shipment of Fiji maize arriving tPday by the Mokoia. This is being offered at 8s 6d on the wharf in wholesale lines, and the heavy sales have eased down the price'of local, which is now worth only 8s 9d to 9s on the wharf. Further supplies of Fiji maize are expected to follow the Mokoia shipment, so that the position of consumers • will apparently be a little better during the coming winter than was anticipated. Barley: A little Cape barley is selling during the scarcity of fowl wheat. Fertilisers: An unsatisfied demand continues, all kinds meeting a keen inquiry. In. view of the scarcity of bonedust, the shipment of phosphate from Egypt was particularly useful*, and it has practically all been sold. One interesting result of the extraordinary scarcity and high price of bonedust and other fertilisers has been a more careful discrimination in the selection of land. Fertilisers are now so dear as to impose a. heavier annual charge on some land than the interest would be, and this results in higher prices for land that does not require heavy manuring. This probably accounts to a, large extent for the high trices obtained for farming land near Feil.lrag a few days ago.

AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 12.5 a-m.) SYDNEY. March 25. Oats: Algerian, feeding 6s to 6s 2d, milling 6s 3d to 6s 4d; Tasraania.ii. 6s 6d. Barley: Cape, nominally 7s 4d. Maize: 8s 6d. Potatoes-: Tasmanian,, £10 to £11. Onions: £13 10s to £14. (Keod. 11.30 p.m.) ADELAIDE. March 25. Oats: 5s 6d to 5s 7d. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (R«cd. 5 p.m.) LONDON. March 22. The following rates on foreign exchange are current to-day, as compared with life cabled Quotations on March IS. and the rates ruling on July 3. 1914: — March 22. March 15. July. 1914. Paris . . ... oilr 6c 50.85 24-111 Stockholm .. 23ore 18.27 18J4t Chri&tiarua, . . 20kr 70ore '20.65 18.244 Calcutta . . 254 3-8 d 2s 4id la 3 31-32 d Montreal . . 4dol 21c 4.16 4.87 J New York . . 3dol 78c 3.72 4.571

LONDON WOOL SALES. A. and N.Z. LONDON, March 22. .At the wool sales all sorts continue to harden. Merinos are now 71 per cent, above the February c-bsing rates, and crossbreds 10 per cent. The following prices were realised: —Ivor, top 75d,/ average 74d; Grly, top 67{d. average 59d; Brenda, top 1024, average lOOjd; New Zealand, Walter Peak, top 90d, average SOd. PROPERTY ' SALES. Alfred Buckland and Sons, Ltd., will offer for sale by publio, auction to-day at 2.30 p.m. a block of 101 acres, and all buildings erected thereon, situated at the corner of Hillsboro' and Mount Albert Roads. This block has long road frontages, and is said to be suitable for cutting up. They will also offer two blocks of swamp land, of 321 and 299 acres respectively, at Maunsatawhiri, >* bandy to Pokeno railway station by metalled road. Messrs. T. Mandeno Jackson will offer for sale by public auction at their rooms, Customs Street East, at eleven o'clock this morning 64.666 acres of swamp, bush, and arable country, known as Runanga Falls Station, situated 25 miles from Taupo, on the main Napier coach road. The property has an extensive frontage to the Rangataiki River, and there are about 10,000 acres of millable timber on the block. They will also offer, by order of the Supreme Court, a block of freehold containing 41,224 acres, known as Pukahnnui No. 2, in the 'East Taupo County, and with a frontage to the Rangataiki River. Mr. C. P. Bennett will offer for sale by public auction at his rooms. New Zealand Insurance Buildings at noon to-day, a tenroomed house, with section of approximately i-acre (leasehold), in "St. Stephen's Avenue, Parnell; also, ■ under instructions from the first mortgagee, a 12-roomed house in Highfold Street, Morrinsville. Samuel Vaile.and Sons. Limited, will offer for sale by auction, at their rooms, at 3 p.m. to-day, a farm of 179 i acres at WaiEiamaku, Bokiaaga, in the estate of S. B. Xarbutt, deceased;, residence, at sine roorajy

corner Grange Boad and Mount Eden. Bead:: cottage of five rooms, 21, Collinswood Street, Foneonby; two leasehold properties in Wynyard Street, City, comprising Wo' dorlb» nouses. Also, by order of the .mortgagee, a farm, of 58 acres on the Wade Elver. HIDES, SKINS AND TALLOW. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency- Company, Ltd., report bavins sold large catalogues of hides, skins, and tallow on Tuesday as follows: — Hides: Market brisk, with good competi- ; tion. Ox hides, extra heavy 23d to 24<L medium 21 Id to 22id, light 20d to 21d; cow. best 20id to 22d, good 19d to laid, inferior 17d to 18Jd; kips, 20d to 24d; yearlings, to 24d; calfskins, best lines 40d to 43£ d, ! good 34d to. 36d, cut and damaged 14d to ' 24d; stags. 10id to Hid: damaged hides. | lid to 14d. — Tallow: Best mixed, in shipment casks. i 80s to 82s 6d; good, in small casks, 70s to '755; medium, 55s to 60s; inferior, 45s to 1 43a 6d ; rough fat, *d lb. Bones: £9. I Horsehair: Is Id to Is Sd.

Alfred Buciland a.nd Sons, Ltd., of the Haymarket, report having held their weekly sale of hides, 3kins, and tallow on Tuesday. Heavy hides were keenly competed for, and sold at record prices, 24d to 26d per lb for, sound ox, 631b weight and upwards. Heavy" calfskins, yearlings, and kips dropped 4d per lb in sympathy with oversea markets; light calfskins, in good order, selling at 4Sd to 62id. The latter price was paid for 31 washed calfskins of Sib net weight, and is a record for the firm's stores. Hides: Cow. heavy 22d, light 21d; ox, light 19id to 221 d; ox, medium and stout, 24d to 26d; kips, 21d: yearlings, 26d; calfskins, best light grades to 50d, washed, 53 ? d hides and calfskins at prices relatively lower; horss hides. 21s to 40s each, accordifig to size and condition. Tallow: In barrels and .tins, 583 to 653 'per cwt.

Bones: £8 10s to £9 per ton. Horsehair: Is 6d to Is 8d for tail: la Sd to Is 4id for mixed. Eabbitskins: Well stretched heavy summers 5s per lb; lower grades 23d to 46d per lb.