COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVIX, Issue 3011, 24 December 1896, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Times Office, December 23rd, 1690. Matters in tho commercial world aro at present brisk. This isjpartly accounted (or by tho approach of Christmas. Tho increased demand is especially noticeable in dried fruits. In tho wine and spirit market bottled ale is quoted at from Us 6d to 12s Gd per dozen ; bottled stout, 10s l)d to 11s Gd per dozen; and bulk ales, £lO per hogshead. Tho demand for wine is light and almost entirely retail in character. In whisky, brandy, Geneva and Old Tom there is an improved demand, but there is a great slackening la rum, the enquiry being very limited. In the dried fruits, currants run from 4d to 4J per lb ; raisins, according to kind, from s|d to ill's, lloz boxes, 5s Cd to 6s Gd per dozen; prunes, Californian, BJd to 9d; canned fruits, 8s Gd to 9s Gd per doz ; evaporated fruits (apples), 5d ; poaches, 8J to 9d ; apricots, 9d. Trade in corrugated iron has been steady, quotations being from £l7 15s to £lB per ton. There is little demand for fencing wire, which stands as followsGalvanised, £lO to £lO 10s per ton ; black, £8 10s; barbed wire, American, £l3 10s to £l3: English, £lB 10s. Nails are in excellent demand at 13s 6d per keg. The kerosene market is still lightly stocked, although further supplies are expected shortly. Prices range from lid to Is per gallon, in bond for ISOdog. teat, patent screws, and lOd to IO.Jd for low screws, l*aiub oils are still steady, although tho top prices have slackened a little. English and Indian oils now stand at from Os Id to 3a 2.1 for boiled oils, and Bs to 3s Id lor raw ; castor oil has hardened up to 3s 7d and 3s 9d per drum. Rico now stands at about £2O per ton, duty paid, for No. 1 Japan rice. Sugar is in excellent demand, very good samples having come to hand. Prices run from £2O to £33. Salt is quoted as follows Coarse, £3 to £3 ss; fine, £4 to £1 ss. In tobacco a very good month’s trade has been done, and sales of considerable magnitude arc reported; Juno, Is 3d to Is 4d ; Derby, Is 7d to la 9d; Golden Eagle, 2s to 2a 2d; Ruby Twist, 2s 2d to 2s Sd ; Welcome Nugget, 2s 4d, being quoted. Little or no sales ace recorded in woolpacks, but A good many sales arc recorded in cornsacka, which are quoted at from 4s IO.Jd for 44inch to 5s 3d for 481nch. Messrs Freeman R. Jackson and Co.’a Wanganui stock report The bidding for sheep was an Improvement on that of last sale. Wo sold out all that came forward. A few cattle only were yarded, and wo disposed of them at current rates. A large entry of pigs was in the sale, and were all cleared at satisfactory prices. Cattle—Fat cows, £3 0s; empty store cows, £llßa ; steers, £2; and cows in calf, £2. Sheep—Fat shorn ewes, 7s; fat shorn lambs, 5s Gd; owes and lambs in wool, 8s 6d; stores, shorn wethers, 6s 7d; old ©wes, 3s 6d. Pigs—Good pork, 18s to 22s ; others, 13s to 15s Gd; small pigs, 6s to 11s; stores, 7s to 12s. By Telegraph.—Presa Association.—Copyright, Sydney, December 23. Wheat—Chick,Bs Gd to 8s 9d, nominal; milling, local, 4a lid to ss. Flour—Californian, £l2 6s; local, £lB. New Zealand oats—Medium quality, 2s 8d to 2s 4d; prime feeding, 2s 6d. Maizo, la 9d to la 10d. Barley—Cape, 2s Od to 2a Od. Bran and pollard, 7d each. Peas—Prussian blue, 4s 9s. Potatoes—Local, £1 10s to £1 15s. Onions -Victoria n, £4 to £4 ss. Butter—Dairy made, OJd to 7d ; factory, 7.Jd to Bd. Cheese—Prime, 44d to 4|d. Bacon, sid to Gd. Ham—Now Zealand, 9d. Melbourne, December 23. Wheat, firm, 6s 4d ; old, 6s 10J; oats, weaker, 2s lid to 2ssd; maize, 9s lOd; potatoes, £5; onions, £4 loa - ~ i Adelaide, December 23. Wheat, 5s Gd. Flour—Roller brands, £l4 to £l4 10s. Oats—Stout white, 8s Gd. Bran, Is Id; pollard, Is 2d. RANGIURU BY THE SEA. It will be scon from our auction columns that the balance of the quarter-acre sections, some 50; in tho township of Rangiuru by tho Boa are to bo sold < by public auction on Saturday, IGth January, at Rangiuru House, Otaki. It is about 18 months since tho township was first offered to the public, and since then groat improvements in the shape of new buildings, do., have been carried out. The ■ terms of sale are exceptionally easy, and plans can bo had from tho auctioneers, T. Kennedy Macdonald and Co., Limited; or from Messrs Kirk, ; Atkinson and Wilson; solicitors.