COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19289, 30 March 1926, Page 9

COMMERCIAL.

THE MEAT MARKET. PRICES AT SMITHFIELD. The New Zealand Meat Producers' Board has received the following cablegram from its London office, dated March 26, advising Smithfield delivered prices at that date as follows: — New Zealand Wethers and Maidens. — Canterbury quality, selected brands, (new season's), 561b.' and under, 6|d per lb.; 571b. to 641b., 6sd; 651b. to 721b., &id. Other brands: 561b and under, 6jd; 571b. to 641b., 6 l-8d; 651b. to 721b., 5 7-Bd. New Zealand Ewes (New Season's). — 641b. and under, per lb. New Zealand Lamb.—Canterbury quality (new season's), 361b and under 10£ d per lb; 371b. to 421b, 101 d; 431b. to 501b., 9 7-Sd. Sjeconds, 9,jd. Selected brands, (new season's), 361b. and under, 10 l-8d; 371b. to 421b., lOd. Other brands, Ist quality, (new season's), 421b. and under, 9|d. Seconds, 421b. and under, 8 7-Bd. New Zealand Beef.—Ox fores, 3Ad per lb; hinds, 4gd. Cow fores, 2|d; hinds, 3gd. Argentine Chilled Beef.—Ox fores, 3fd per lb; hinds, 6jd. The lamb market is steady and consumption is satisfactory. The mutton market is weaker owing to the slow demand. PUKEKOHE PRODUCE. POTATO PRICES FIRMING. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] , PUKEKOHE. Monday. The potato market shows a firming tendency, to-day's quotations being £6 to £6 10s per ton f.o.r. Pukekohe. It is stated that growers are paying more attention to grading and consequently better prices for good quality lines are obtainable. Onions are firm in price, to-day's quotation being £l2 10s per ton f.o.r. Pukekohe. TOP PRICE FOR MERINO. .. THE SEASON'S RECORD CLIP. [Bt TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Monday. The record price for a wool clip in New Zealand this season was sec ired at the Wellington sale for 43 bales of Richmond Brook Merino, 23d. In January, 1925, up to was realised for Merino wool. ARDATH TOBACCO CO. NET PROFIT OF £288,041. The annual meeting of the Ardath Tobacco Company was held in London on February 15. Reviewing the accounts, the chairman, Sir. Albert Levy, said that from the point of view of net trading profit, they constituted a record in the history "of the company. The profits have risen steadily throughout the the company's history, and the net trading profit for 1925 of £350.687 compares with : £257,542 in' 1924, £244,367 in 1923, and £200,304 in 1922. After allowing for full depreciation, • alt management charges apd reserve for income-tax, there was a net divisible profit of £288,041 which, together with -the carry-forward of £22,306, -made £316,348 available for distribution. After paying fixed charges on the 6 per cent, preference shares and 10 per cant., preferred ' ordinary, amounting to £43,500, less tax, the company would again distribute £IO.OOO to ordinary shareholders, and place" 1 £240,000 to reserve, bringing this item up to the handsome figure of £740,000. The balance of £16,848 will be carried forward. Mr. Levy said .'hat practically 85 per cent, of the output is shipped to overseas markets. The company had entered into an arrangement with the British American Tobacco Company under which they Would collaborate in overseas markets to mutual advantage. He considered the company had been very fortunate in coming to such an arrangement with its chief competitor. COSTS OF TRAMS AND BUSES. BRITISH INVESTIGATIONS. A report recently prepared by Mr. G. O. Silvers on the comparative costs of trams, trolley buses and petrol buses operated by the Wolverhampton Corporation shows that the total cost per 100 seat-miles for the year 1924-25 was 39.56 d for the trams, 37.34 d for the trolley vehicles, and 44,56 d for the motorbuses. Mr. Silvers expressed the opinion that each type of vehicle had its own particular sphere, depending on the number of passengers to be dealt with, and that although tramway systems suffered under statutory disabilities, they were likely to hold their own, under suitable conditions, for many years to come. He was of opinion that they were the best type of vehicle for large industrial areas, in which the population was sufficient to liquidate the cost o! the permanent way. The best results were obtainable when the conditions justified the employment of vehicles having a high seating" capacity. In the past, routes had been laid where the number of passengers to be carried did not justify the step, and it was in cases of that sort that authorities were changing over to the trolley or petrol bus. ■Generally, if the conditions only justified the employment of a single-line system, the traffic could be dealt with more efficiently by one of the alternative systems. The conditions under which the trolley system was most successful were those in which a moderate number of passengers had to be handled with frequent stops. In such cases, the capacity for rapid acceleration and retardation, which was a feature of the trolley bus, gave it an advantage over the petrol bus. The most economical size of trolley vehicle was probably one having a capacity for about 60 passengers. The economical nature of a tramway system where the conditions weer favourable was further illustrated by the figures for the Edinburgh system where the total cost per 100 seat-miles worked out at 30.7 d, as against 55.47 d for the motorbuses. TEA TO COST MORE. A LONDON PREDICTION. "Everything points to the fact that before long the lowest retail price of tea will be 2s a pound," said one of the largest tea buyers in London recently. "The wholesale prices of the cheaper teas have risen sixpence a pound since August last." added the buyer. "The Indian tea crop last year was some millions of pounds less than in the previous year, and ttiere was also a reduced output in China and Java. It was only careful buying of large stocks, last year that enabled some of the large British retailers to keep down the price to the public so long. There is very little tea available to-day at less than Is lOd retail."" "Present wholesale prices of the cheaper teas appear to warrant a rise in retail price of something like twopence per pound." said a leading Mincing Lan«merchant. "More and more tea is drunk."