COMMERCIAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17426, 21 September 1918, Page 6

COMMERCIAL.

Daily Times Office, Friday evening. At a recent mooting of the Allied Maritime Transport Council in. London the Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs made the following statement:—"Our shipping resources ore strictly limited, so that every one of the Allies must endure hardship. Every saving means laTger armies and earlier peace. Not long ago ships laden with grain were passing one another in the Mediterranean, expending a vast amount of mileage uselessly for the Allied purpose. Now each Allied country gets its supplies from tho nearest Allied source—ltaly from India, ami I Great Brjtain from America. Seeing the necessity for such co-ordination, producers and other claimants for more oversea, ton- ' nage should see the reasonableness of accepting the position with as muoh philosoxihy as they can mustex. Individual in tercets must necessarily be subordinated to these of winning the war." This will not be very pleasant reading for those who arc entrusted with tho work of trying to place the huge quantity of Australian wheat in oversea countries. . Tho quantity of -wheat handled in the commonwealth for the past three seasons to Sop tember 2, according to figures supplied by tihe Australian Wheat Board, is ias follows: — 1915-16. 1916-17. 1917-18. Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. Wheat shipped ... 94,709,000 13,377,000 45-1,000 Sold locally ... 63,723,000 30,421,000 13,683,000 Held by shippers 4,706,000 82,373,000 79,1-12,000 Held by millers 125,000 2,630,000 9,707,000 Total 163,263,000 138,304,000 102,986,000 The local wheat market continues in a quiet condition- Few lots of milling quality are available, and all corning forward are taken at tho Government fixed price>. Fowl wheat is in. good demand, and is not very plentiful. . Flour (200's) is quoted at £15 10s a ton Oatmeal, £29 a ton for 25's. Pearl bajiey, £24. Bran, £6 10s (fixed by Government). Pollard, £8 10s (fixed by Government). Milling wheat, according to Government price:—-South Island—September onwards, 6s Id, f.o.b. (plus Id brokerage, and id Government charge). There is very little to report regarding the 'oats market, which continues firm. In the absence of offerings, however, not. much business is passing. There is little, if any, change an prices over the week. PRODUCE REPORT. There is a good inquiry for chaiE for ship.ment, and the local demand is also fairly sound. The high prices for prime have caused a greater inquiry for medium quality. Prime is worth about £7 153 to £3. Prime quality potatoes meet -with a good inquiry, but other sorts ' a>re not in great demand. Tho demand for onions is pretty well confined to prime samples. Sprouted lines are being disposed of at la per cental bag, and a quantity of this quality will have to be thrown out at the tip. Milled bulk butter is the only quality available at the present time. Other qualities of dairy butter are off tho market. Current wholesale prices aro as follow:— Fowl "Wheat.—New ZeoJaad grown, 6s 5d to 6s 6d. Chaff.—Prime oaten Bheaf, to £8; good, to £7 10s. Oaten Straw.—£3; wheaten, £2 15s. Potatoes.—£ll 10s per ton (sacks in), for northern-grown. Prices vary according to quality. Eggs.—Plain, Is 3d; stamped, Is 4d. Onions.—Prices range up to 26s per hundredweight for good quality Brown Spanish. Butter.—Milled bulk, Is 4d per lb. Honey, lOd per lb. Pigs'—Baconers, Bjd per lb; porkers, BJd. Baoon, —Local rolls, Is 3d; Christchurch rolls, Is 3d; sides, Is 2d; hams, Is 3d; ham rolls, Is -1(1. FRUIT REPORT. ' Since last report a fairly large lino of Island oranges has arrived by the Putiki, a proportion of it selling as high as 24s per case. Some heavy consignments arrived by the Westralia and the Coriana, most of it being in very bad condition. Prices fell considerably, as low cs 2s 6d per case being accepted. A small lino of Sydney fruit is due to arrive to-morrow (Saturday). Advice from Auekhnd states that a fairly large shipment of Fiji bananas has been placed on the Monowai. A portion of tho line has bean sold to arrive in Dunedin. The Monow-ai -will also bring a smalt parcel of- oocoamits. Cauliflowers oontinue to arrive in quantity. It is considered that supplies will ease off oonsidea'ably next week. Current wholesale values are as follow: — Apples.—Dessert, choice Sfcurmers, to 12s; best desserts, 10s to 103 6d; others, 6s 6d to 83. Cookers, 7s 6d to 9s 6d; medium, 5s 6d to 6s; inferior, 3s to 4s; Lord Wolseley, 10s to 103 6d. Pears.—Winter Coles, half-cases, to 6s; cooking, 2d to 2kl per lb; Winter Nelis, bushels, to 10s 9d; Confesrence, 6s to 6s 6d. - ..Lemons. —Adelaides, to 22s 6d per oa&e; 'Frisco, 455; Auckland, 10s to 12s. Bananas.—To arrive on "Wednesday next. Mandarins.—Prime, to 265. ■r-assigns.—14s to 17s 6d par box.

Pines.—To 26a per ens© Oranges.—lsland repacks, prices irregular, best from 12s Cd to 21s; Sydney, 10s to 17s, according to quality: Adelaide Navels, 22& to 21a Gd; 'Frisco -Sunkist, double, eosep, to 455. Walnuts, to Is Gd per lb for choice ; others, Is 3d to Is 3d. Potatoes, in small lots, Ms per cwt for choice; Melbourne, ,10s to Us. Cabbages.—Choice, up to 4<i per dozen; -Is to 5s per sack; good, 3s 6d to ss; inferior, Is 63 to lis Cd per sack. Cauliflowers • Choice, up to 4s 6d per sack; good, 2s Gd to 3s fid; medium, Is Gd to 2s. Parsnips, 2a to 2s 6d per cental bag; eacks, 12s. Swedes, sacks, 3s; bags, Is Gd to 2s 3d. Celery, best lo per bunch; medium, to Gd. Spmucli, 8d to la 4d per dozen. Spring onions,- 8d per bunch. Radish, 9d to Is per dozen. Lettuce, Is to 2s for half-case; extra choice, 2s 6d per dozen. Rhubarb, 4s to 5s per dozen bundles of lib each. MELBOURNE MARKETS. Prwn Association—By Telegraph—Oopyright. Australian ami N\Z. Cable Association. MELBOURNE, September 20. Barley: Chevalier, 6s, 6s 6d; Cape, 4s, 4s 3d. Oats: Milling Algerians, 3s 9d, 3s lOd; feed, 3s 7d, 3s Bd. £4 15s. Onions, £25, £26. ' . , CHRISTCHURCH MARKETS. (Feb United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, September 20. Odd lots of wheat and oats are occasionally coming into the market, the former remaining firm. Prime oatshc&f ohaff is still in demand!, and up to £7 5a per ton at country stations has been paid. Shipping space, even to Wellington, is very scarce, and no arrangements have yet been ma.de for a special boat to take a large quantity of chaff awaiting shipment to th« North Island. The potato market is very quiet, there being few inquiries. At the same time few ara offering. The ruling prices offered are £7 15s to £8 at country stations.

Scott Bros., jht ■ salesmen and commission agents report:—Eggs: Miaket firm; fresh, is 3d; stamped, Is per dozen. Butter: Wanted; dairy, Is 4d; bulk —milled, Is 4d; separator, Is 4d per lb. Honey: Prime clover—bulk, 3d; 101b tins, 8s each; sections, 7cL Baeswax, 2s x>cr lb. Poultry: Wanted; cockerels, 6s to 7s Gd; hens. 4s to 4s 6d' par pair; ducks, 7s to 8s; gceee, 7s to 8s Gd per pair; gobblers, lid; heais, lOd per lb. Pigs: Wanted; prime baooners, 9d; porkors, 9d; over-weights, 4d to 7d p«r lb; liams, Is 3d; bacon, Is 21d par lb. Potatoes: Steady; Up-to-dates, £11 10s to £12 per ton. Onions: Victorians, £28 per ton. Chafi: Prime oaten sheaf wanted, £S per ton; medium to good, £6 15s to £7 10s per ton (sacks extra). Fowl wheat, 6s 6d) per bushel (ex stare), sa-cks extra. Straw: Pressed wheaten, £2 150 to £3 103 per ton.

W. Stewart (Ltd.), poultry merchants, 226 Princes street, Dimedin (established 30 years), buyers of all kinds of poultry, report for the week traded September 21:—Hens, medium to good, 2s to 2s 3d each; chickens, young- cockerels, 3s to 3s 6d each; ducklings, 3s 6d to 4s; geese, 3a 6d to 43; turkey gobblers and hens wanted. No commission charged. Railway freights paid. Crates supplied *£ree.