MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1165, 29 June 1894, Page 7

MISCELLANEOUS.

NEW ZEALAND LAND ASSOCIATION'S WEEKLY REPORT. The Association reports as follows for the week ending June 22nd : Wool.—There is nothing new to report concerning this staple. The opening of the fourth series of London sales on the Ist prox. is awaited with interest. Sheepskins.—Fairly largo supplies have been coming forward during the week, and quality and condition have shewn improvement. Wo quote factory crossbreds, full-woolled, 4s Cd to ss; half-woolled, 3s 9d to 4s 3d. Station skins have come forward in good quantity, and wo have to report the sale of about 1300 skinß at following rates:—Best full-woolled up to 3s 6d ; half-woolled, Is lid to 2s 9d ; inferior, la to Is 6d ; pelts, 3d to 6d. Hides.—No alteration to report. Only small quantities coming forward. Flax.—Wo have nothing further to report concerning this staple, and millers are still holding for better figures. Hopes are entertained that tho market will show more life ere long. Wheat ,—We can only repeat our previous quotations, which are : —Pearl and Tuscan (old) 2s Bd, (new) 2s 4£d ; Hunter's (old) 2s 6d, (new) 2s 4d ; whole fowl wheat, 2s 2d; broken, Is lid, f.o.b. South, sacks extra. Oats.—Few sale 3 have been passing, and business is not very brisk at the moment; a few orders for seed oats have been filled at 2s 3d per bushel, ex store, sacks extra. Feed quotations are unchanged at Is 7d to Is lOd per bushel, ex store, sacks extra. Chaff.—Sellers are numerous, but sales are difficult to effect, while stocks are heavy, and every opportunity is eagerly filled at up to 65s per ton, c.i.f. Wellington, sacks in, for prime qualities. Hay.—We have effected sales during the week of several lines of good grass hay at 7£a per ton ex store.

A. G. Taine and Co. report on the markets for the week ending 21st June :—Fat SheepThere is an improved demand, and really prime mutton is readily saleable. We quote : Wethers, 12s to 13s for prime, 10s 6d to lis 6d for second quality ; ewes, 8s to 10s; store wethers, 9s 6d to 10s ; lambs, 5s 6d to 6s 6d ; culls, 3s and upwards. Fat Cattle—Wo quote: Beef, 19s per 1001 b. Dairy cows are in active demand, and all about to calve find immediate sale from £7 to £8 ; heifers coming to calve about springtime, <£3 10s to £A 15s. Pigs, baconers, 35s to 42s 6d; porkers, 203 to 255; stores, 12s to 17s; demand rather quiet. Sheepskins—The wet weather has caused the demand to slacken off. Fine dry weather will firm the market again. Best crossbreds, 3s 6d to 4s; country skins, 2s 6d to 3s ; pelts, 6d to Is 6d; broken skins, 2£d to 4d. Laery and Co., Limited, report for the past week as under :—Wheat—There is a scarcity of prime milling, prices have advanced, and there is every prospect of values advancing. Some sorts are not procurable at any price. Oats. —This grain is very low; prices remain as last quoted. Prime milling has taken a small spurt owing to export demand. The quality this season is not quit© up to the standard, some being rather soft. Barley.—A steady demand for prime samples of malting, which are hard to obtain owing to crops having wet weather on them ; medium qualities are very plentiful, and are very slow of sale ; prime are likely to remain as quoted for some time to come. Peas.—No demand for this feed ; stocks are large, and there is not any prospect of values improving. Beans. —Plentiful, and very slow of sale. Maize.— This corn has fallen in price owing to large parcels being placed on the market, fearing lower value. Bran.—Plentiful, thus causing fall in prJce. bollard.—Very hard to obtain, millers cannot supply orders, values have advanced accordingly. Seeds.—We are now in the middle of winter, and everything in this line is quiet, and quotations for same remain as last quoted. Cheese.—Some good lines are to hand, and prime samples find ready sales. We expect to see prices much higher before long. Butter.—There is every indication of an improvement in price, owing to most of the factories closing. Flax.—Cables received indicate advance in price of the valuable fibre, which we trust will enable mills to start again. The large stocks that have been held in London must now be working off, and we may expect to see shipments being made to England and America, Fruit.—Large con-

signments received oi late from Sydney and Hobart. Tho market has boon glutted aud values have suffered. Messrs Abraham and Williams report on the stock market as follows :—AtLovin on Tuesday a fair muster of cattlo came forward, bidding was slack, and not much business done. Tho entry of sheep was a moderate one, tho bulk being cither old or ill-conditioned. Any sorts worth having found purchasers. At Palmorston yesterday no cattlo were penned. A medium entry of sheep camo to hand, consisting chiofly of full-mouthed ewes. Bidding was rather slow. Levin—lß-moriths steers, J}2 14s; storo wethers, 8s to 9s; lambs, 3s 7d to 5s Id ; owes, 5s 6d to 7s 6d. Palmerston —Full-mouthod breeding ewes, 5s 9d to 6s 3d ; store wethers, 8s 8d ; forward owes, Cs 7d ; culls, 2s 9d ; lambs, 5s Id. A. G. Taino and Co. report holding their usual weekly horse sale on Saturday. There was tho smallest ontry wo have seen for somo timo, but buyers were about, and wo sold all but ono horse, with a demand for moro. There was a better onquiry for hacks and light harness horses than we have seen for a long timo, and still a good demand for oxpress and spring dray sorts for town work. We had buyers for draughts, but had none entered. Wo quote heavy draughts-young and sound, £2l to .£25; medium, .£l6, to express horsos, .£l2 to .£l7; hacks, ordinary, M to ,£10; good light harness horse 3, ,£lO to .£ls. Mossm Nelson Brcs., London, report as follows on the frozen moat trade for the month ending May 18th:—Seven steamers have arrived, bringing an aggregate of 134,435 carcases. Five have already < discharged ; the Maori and Kaikoura have commenced. In both tho Duke of Sutherland and the Duke of Westminster a number of carcases were moro or leas damaged, and those being put on the market have doubtless, to somo extent, helped to lower prices ; but a more powerful factor has been the distribution of stocks amongst many holders, who, anxious to realise, have accepted needlessly low rates to clear. Really prime sheep are scarce, and enquired for, notwithstanding recent heavy arrivals. In parcels of Canterbury sheep there is a noticeable absence of the wethers of neat size and handy weights that established tho reputation of the brand,; and which would always realise a very top price. In rocent shipments there has been a lack of finish, even amongst tho best, and a preponderance of heavy, rather course, leggy sheep, foreign to tho accepted type of Canterbury mutton. Much of the Canterbury meat per Tainui, Mamari and Ruahine was affected with " bone taint;" this, for a time, seemed to bo confined to shipments from that province, but lecently parcels from Wellington and Auckland have also been discovered and destroyed. Occasionally some of this "bone tainted " moat escapes notice, and gets into the country with prejudicial effect on the trade. A movement has been initiated with the object of regulating tho trade in New Zealand meat, and so preventing a recurrence of last year's disastrous trading. Desirable as this appears to be, it has hardly been received with the unanimity which alone can secure success. Keen competition amongst holders continues, day by day prioos reach a lowor level, and sheep that a month ago were worth 3jd to 4d per lb are now offered at id per lb less money, say 3fd to3id per lb ; Canterburys then worth 4\& per lb sell now for 4d per lb. A cablegram received on Saturday by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agenoy Com-. pany gives tho following as tho latest London market quotations: Frozen meats Mutton market weak ; lamb market unsettled. Canterbury mutton, id per lb; Wellington mutton, 3£d; New Zealand boof, fore-quarters, 4£d; do, hind-quarters, 3id; lamb, prime Now Zealand, per carcase, 4£d. Tallow—Market quiet; prices unchanged. Fine mutton, 26s per cwt; good beef, 24s 9d. Hemp—Medium, .£l6 per ton. Wheat—New Zealand average, 25s 6d per 4061 b; New Zealand long-berried, 26s 6d per 4961 b ; New Zealand fia.q.j to arrive c.i.f., 223 6d per 4801 b. Butter (quotation 18th May)—New Zealand, 84s to 86s per*cwt.

London, Juno 20. The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for tho United Kingdom is 3,620,000 quarters, and for the Continent 1,400,000 quarters. * A South Australian wheat cargo has been sold at 23s 6d, and a Victorian cargo has been re-sold at 24s 3d. London, June 21. The Australian Bank Deposit and Trust Company proposes, to issue two millions of marketable stock against the deposit receipts of the following banks : —Australian Joint Stock Bank, English, Scottish and Australian Chartered Bonk, National Bank of Australia, London Bank* of Australia* ®ank, of Victoria and Commercial Bank of Sydney." New Zealand long-berried wheat, ex warehouse, 25s 6d, market steady; South Australian do, 25s 6d, firm; Victorian, 255, firm. Frozen mutton—First quality, td, market depressed; second quality, 3fcd. Hemp is unchanged. Sugar, best German beet/12s 4£d; Java, lis ; flat. r j-« London, June 24. Two cargoes of South Australian wheat have been sold at 23s 9d and 24s l£d respectively. 'I he English wheat market is weak, without quotable change; the Continental is changing a little for the worse, and the American shows no alteration. The fine weather which has been experienced lately has improved the crops and weakened the wheat market. " Tallow is unaltered. New Zealand hemp is firmer, the latest quotation being .£l6. Sydney, June 20. The steamer Talune arrived yesterday from Wellington with the stud sheep for the July sale. The sheep are in good condition. Sydney, June 23. Mr Valentine, the New Zealand Dairy Commissioner, had an interview with the Premier, when the latter stated that the. Government, recognising that the interests of all colonial producers were identical, especially produce, when it reached the market, had decided to ask him to act also for New South Wales in England. Auckland, June 22. Auckland will be fairly represented at the great stud sheep fair to be held in Sydney. There were shipped by the Waihora over 600 rams for „ the fair. Shippers comprise breeders from Waiuku, Waikato and the surrounding districts. The Auckland sheep are mostly Lincolns, but Mr Every McLean forwarded a splendid consignment of Downs. It is understood that the Loan and Mercantile Company look after the interests of the shippers. 4 , DuNBDiN, June 25. It is understood that as a result of the

interview between Messrs Reynolds (Auckland) and J. N. Scott, of the National Dairy Association, and the Minister for Lands the alterations in the Dairy Industry Act will be on the lines suggested by the Agricultural Conference and Dairy Association Conference. Mr J. Wayte, of Otama Bridge, is said to be one of the six new dairy instructors. He was very successful as a butter and cheese-maker before leaving for England, and has since served with distinction in various agricultural colleges. Mr Robbins, of Gore, is also stated to have been offered an inspectorship. Melbourne, June 21. The first convention of fruit-growers opens at Mildura on August 7th. About up hundred delegates will be present, and ffTthe colonies except New Zealand will bo represented. It is hoped the conference will organise a movement for uniform nomenclature of fruit. Melbourne, June 25. The Victorian Trade Commissioners who are travelling in the East report that a large trade may be opened up with British Burmah in meat, hams, bacon, butter and cheese. They are also of opinion that Singapore offers a good market for meat and butter. London, June 24. The exhibits of colonial produce at the Cambridge Agricultural Show are only fairly satisfactory, and appear to have been prepared too'hurriedly. Some of the wines are muddy. The general exhibits are limited, and are not representative. London, June 25. The Coptic's shipment of butter arrived in sound condition, and will be put into store. She is unable to discharge her meat, owing to the cold stores being glutted. London, June 26. The Victorian exhibits at the Cambridge Exhibition are attractively arranged. The grain and cheese are considered specially good.