SKENE'S LABOUR EXCHANGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1158, 7 February 1874, Page 14

SKENE'S LABOUR EXCHANGE.

The harvest is on us, but good hands for reaping ami .securiDg 1 it are very scarce. Three home ships have just arrived, but we have scarcely any help by them If rough winds keep away, we may scramble through in the good old way, viz , by neighbours helping each other as far as possible In the general Labour Market, things are working pretty smoothly, though the supply is rather short of the demand. Current Wages. —Blacksmiths, 12s per day. or £05 per year and found ; Carpenters, 12s and 14s per day ; Masons, 12s to lf>s ; Dairymaids, £40 to !£">o ; Karm Servants, from £50 to £(i 0 per annum, if married £00 to £70 ; Harvest Men, 40s to 50s per week ; Bushmen, 10s, Jper r diy ; ship Carpenters, 15a per day ; Shepherds, £00 per yeir and found. Domestic Servants are firm at last quotations, and likely to continue so. Smart Hoys and Girls «et good wages, which tempt them away from school far too .soon, Messrs Wright, S-rernKSfeON, and Co. report for the week ending: 4th February, at. follows: — Fat Cattle— The number yarded was only SO head, but the trade having been over-suDplied the previous week, about half had to be turned out unsold. We quote prime beaf 20s per 100 Ib 3, medium ditto, 17s 6a. fat fiheep — 1200 were panned a number beyond the requirements of the trado. We sold 370 merino wethers, middling to good quality, at 7s (id to Ss 9d ; and 100 cross-breds at from Us. to 12s, We also sold privately 000 merino wethers, at ?Jrl ppr lb, and 500 cross-breds at 2\d per lb We quote cross breds 2\d per lb ; merinos, 2d to 31d per lb. JT-it Lambs.— The nvuket wab glutted with 400 head. The trade took about 200. the remainder being sold to grnalers. We placed 300 at from 7s 3d to 10s each. Store Cattle. — "^ o transactions. Store Sheep — There is a good demand for young merino ewes and wethers, and for cross-breds. We sold 1500 full-mouthed ewes at 3s 9d. We hive also to report having sold 100 merino rams, M ages, at £2 each, and 20 Cotswold rams (imported from Mcl bourne) at a s itisfactory price We quote merino ewes, 2, 4, and 6-iooth, 7s ; do, full-mouthed, 3s hd to 5s ; cross-breds, 2, 4, and O-tooth, 8s ; do ewes, 10s to 12s. Horses.— Draught mares pf a heavy stamp are in reqi( st. Other sorts are less in dern>inrt. We sold on account of Mr Jumps Mitchell, 10 heavy draught horses, ex Omeo, from Melbourne, at from £26 to £50; and on account of W. S. Trotter, Ksq., a draft of good upstanding coaching colts, at from £12 10s to t2llos. We quote first-class draughts, £50 to .£OS; medium do, £30 to £35 ; Rood hacks and light harness horses, £20 to £30 : medium do, £12 to cis ; light . 1 inferior, £3 to £0. Wool- On Thursday last we hold our third auction uilo, .it which there was .i {food attendance of buyers and other-.. The competition was fair, for most of the lots catalogued, uiul prices obtained .-.how an improvement o\cr thorto obtained lit the ojteninjj; of the iuiauun. Stibjuiiiod wo gho biand.s ami \\mwx of tho lots hold: — Greasy pieces, Hilly rove, 2 balcn, s|d; do, half-bred flucco, A, '£ bales, 10J,il ; di>, half-bred and merino, ■JIHJ, S b.ilox mid 2 bajfs., lOjd : do, moriiio, WAIKAUHA, 42 bales., 10i|; do, half-bred, do, 10 bales, lid ; do, pieces, do, 3 bales, sjld : do, locks and pieces, do, 3 bales, 3-|d : do hnlfbied and merino, heart, 11 bales, lOgd ; do, black, do, 1 bag, 9J ; do, merino ewec, X, 5 bales, lOd ; do, halfbred and m»rino, JA conjoined, 31 bales, 10' f d ; do, cross bred, JG over CB, 20 bales, 12d ; do, do, do, 1 bile, lIM ; greasy long-wool, merino aud half-bred, IST, 7 bale? and 1 bug, Ilia ; do, locks do, 2 bags, 3jd ; do, merino ,-> over JM, 1 fadge, llfd ; do, do, 5 over II in circle over 0, 7 bales, ll^d ; do, half and three-quarter-bred, 21 bales, 12d ; do, merino and half-bred, JP, 3 bales, 12^d ; greasy locks, do, 1 bag, 4[d ; do, cross-bred, WJIK, 2 bales, 12^d; do, half-bred and merino, JL, 3 bales, i-2Jd; 'do. locks and pUc^s, I bag, 3Jd ; do, merino, »t, 1 fadge, lOJd ; do, locks and black to, 1 bag, 6{Jd ; washed oi oss bret and raorln", Sin diamond, 14 bales 20jd ; greasy half-bred, (»O, 35 bales nnd 2 bags, lid : do, locks, do, 1 b-tle, B'}d ; do, merino, 8 bales, 1 fadge, and 2 bags, X red, lOJd ; washed locks do, 1 b.»g, 5^ ; slip* and scoured, no mark, 5 bales, 17d ; scoured locks, do, 1 bale, Od. Shoepskins.— *t ourßa'o on Thursday we sild a quantity, chiefly station skins imd pelfo Tho uncos obtained, which were iu']y otjunl to thnea of last sale, are as follows : Station skins 2s 6«i to 5a lOd eaoh ; pelts Od to Is Id each ; lambskins, fid to lOd each. Hides. — We sold several Bin all lots of medium and light weights at 17s (id (or former, aud J6s (jd for latter. Or|in,r-W(»est is in JTajr domijnd »nd »»]o»b.la at if

6d for good samples : and 4s te 4s 3d for inferior^ Oati are in better demand. Feed and milling may b« quoted at 3s lOd and 4s per bushel respectively.

Missrs Driver, Stewart, and Co. report as follows for the week endiDg February 4th :— Fat Cattle.— There was a full supply of 115 head yarded at the Kaikorai to-day, a large proportion of which were of very ordinary quality, and realise 1 only moderate prices ; a few prime pens, however, brought fully our late quotations 1 . We .sold at the yards 60 head on account of Messrs. G. M. Bell, James Reid, Paterson, Bryce, Ironside, and others, at prices ranging up to £8 for bullocks and £6 10s for cowc. Other sales were 30 head, and we turned out 24 head unsold. We quote prime beef at 20s per 100 lbs ; middling to ordinary from 17s to 18s. We have placed 25 head privately for forward delivery at quotations-. Fat Sheep. — 640 of various descriptions \vvn> penned and sold at— say, for cross-breds, 10s Co 12s 3d ; merino wethers, 6s 6d to 7s ;do ewes, 5s 6d. We sold 300 at the yards, and have placed for forward delivery 700 merino wethers and 500 cross-breds. We quote prime cross breds at 2Jd ; do merinos at 2d, with full supply offering at the»e rates.

Fat Lambs. — Only about 60 were penned, which brought from 7s to 7s 6d. We sold 45 at the yards, and have placed 100 privately.

Store Cattle. — We have no large transactions to report in this description of stock. We have, however, placed a few small lots— in all, 120 head.

Store Sheep. — There is a very active demand for cross-breds and young merino sheep, with, however, few of either description offering. There are also buyers for real)3 r good full-mouthed merino ewe.s and wethers at our quotations, and we have sold during the week, of various sorts, 9500 at the following prices, say — For cross-breds, 2-tooth, 8s to 9s ; do, 4 and 6tooth, Us 6d to 10s ; do, lambs, 7s 6d to 8s ; merino wethers, 2, 4, and 6-tooth, 6s to 6s Od ; do, full, mouthed, 5s to 5s (id ; young merino ewes, (is (id ; do, full-mouthed, 4s to ss. Real and Leasehold Property.— For some months past we have noted an increasing desire on the part of those who have benefited by the general prosperity of the Colony, to im cst in real or good leasehold properties, and we find no difficulty in disposing of all offering at good values, whether town sections, agricultural or pastoral blocks, or squatting leases from the Crown.

Since our last we have to report holding an important sale of real property at Invercargill, when we offered Shand's Winton Esiate, consisting of about SOOO acres, of perhaps the finest selection in Southland. The atattendance was very large, and bidding animated. Of this property we sold 4500 acres in. various lots' at from £3 10s to £9 5s per acre. At the same time we also sold a large number of properties, situated in the towns of Invercargill, Campbelltown, Riverton, and Winton, and suburbs— quarter-acre sections in the former town realising as high aa £1000, and at Campbelltown £700 ; suuurban lands realising £30 per acre Altogether, this sale was the most successful ever held in that part of the Province —about £30,000 worth of property changing hands during the afternoon. At the same time we also sold about 1000 acres of growing crops on the Winton Estate, and all of Mr Shand's farming plant, cart horses, &c, at satisfactory prices. We have also to report the sale of Mr Alex. M'Neil's Calderran JEstate —next the Waiwera— 2soo acres, for £5750, to Mr Robert Haworth. Also, the Fern Hill Station, Lake Wakatip, to Messrs Malheson Bros., for £UOOO. Also, about 100 sections in the townships of Forbury, South Dunedin, and Kew, at an average of £4C each. Wool.— Since the date of our laßt report no advices have been received from the home market. In this market business has been somewhat more active, and a considerable quantity of wool has chauged hands during the past week. Our sale on Friday last was well nttended, and the competition throughout was marked by greater animation than at any of the previous sales this season. Washed clips, especially those of well-known brands, and choice light greasy wools, suitable for the American demand, commandei full

I prices, and the great bulk of these descriptions offered were disposed of. We submitted 1200 bales, and hereto we annex priced catalogue of our sales by auction and privately during the week, aggregating 947 bales':— Oreasy : Mixed, part locks, Bin triangle, 1 bale, 5d ; fleece, D M'K, 2 do, lOJd ; mixed, 31 in triangle, 1 do. Od ; cross-bred, RTE,Sdo, 12Jd : mixed, do, 1 do, Sd ; flueuo, 31 in triangle, 2 do, ll^d ; do, Em do, 6 do, 12} d; pieces, S in circle, 3 do, 9d ; locks and pieces, -— • over JS, 1 do, GJd ; half and three-quarters bred 10, merino 3, WAN, 13 do, llgd ; cross-bred, JJ, 5 do, 12] d ; pieces, ND conjoined, 1 do, 8i ; fleeco, do, 7 do, 12Jd ; Southdown-cross, RM, 2 do, llgd ; locks, ppiked circle, 2 do, 2id ; pieces, do, 3 do, ojd ; fieeuo, do, 0 do, lOd ; cross-bred, R7, 2 do, 11 jd; fleece, 45 combing, 8 clothing-, JB, 53 do, 14d ; dingy, part washed, JB, 3 do, 12{& ; rains, do, 4 do, HHd; fleece, DM, 12 do, lOld; do, spur overMA, ldo, lOjd ; do, BIJ. 2 do, 12d ; do, JJ, 1 do, lljd ; crossbred, do, 1 do, 12d ; }-bred, HH, 6 do, Hid ; fleece, B in square, 0 do, 12gd; crossbred 14, Leicester 2,TK, 16 do, 12d : fleece, V over E WH, 100 do, 12d ; cross-bred 6, merino 2, JG conjoined, 8 do, lljd ; pieces do, 1 do, SW; locks, X, \ do, 2§rl; fleece, WC, 2 do, ll£d; pieces, T"R, 1 do, 7§d ; fleece, T& C, 1 do, 10^1 ; cross bred, IE, 2 do, 12d ; fleece, JJE in square, 2 do, 12} d; mixed, JE in square, 1 do, lOJd ; cross-bred 5, merino 4, Moa Hill, !) do, lid; pieces, do, 1 do, 4 id ; crossbred, JH, 1 rio, !)d ; fleece, UP, 19 do, lOkl ; cross-bred, do, 5 do, 11+ d. Washed: Locks,, JD, 3 do, sid ; cross-bred, AA. in squaro, 2 do, 13^d; pieces, do, 1 ilo, 10^d ; fleece, li in square, 3 do, lSd; locks, D x O, 1 do, 10 ;d ; locks and pieces, JAY, 1 do, 14d ; pieces, H in square, 1 do, 13^d. "Washed fleece lit 2O.Jd, do pieces at lflVd, greasy fleece ut 14d, -->o^or 11, 200 bales. Washed (continued): Locks and pieces, JJ, 1 bale, 13 Vd ; mixed, do, 1 do, 15$ d; fleece, do, 0 do, 19 jd ; cross-bred !), fleece 3y WAM, 12 do, lOd; fleece, J\V, 7 do, 10U1 ; half-bred 15, fleece 2, DxG, 17 do, 19jd ; fleece, 52 fine combing, 13 clothing, 2 Ion?? combiner, JB, 07 do, I7d ; cross-bred and merino, A over AY, 3 do IGJd ; do,TS, 3 do, 18d ; halt -bred, SxP, 05 do, liHd ; ficeco, do, 101 do., W.Vd ; do, do, do, do ; half-bred, NM, ii, dt\ l!)' f d ; loufis, do, 1 do, OAd ; cross-bred, 5 Ist coinhing 1 , 3 2nd do, DH, 8 do, lSJ^d; Leicester, pwt greasy i^o, 1 do, Ui\. Sheepskins. — At auction on Friday, we disposed cf 1000, chief!/ dry nkina, as follows :— Crossbreds, 5a !>d to 5s lid ; merinos, 2s 2d to 4b yd ( pelts, Od to lOd ; lambskins,, lOd to l«d. Hides.— None offered at auction. There Is a good demand both for looal requirements and export at about 4^d par lb for sound wet salted hides. Tallow and Oil — No Ullow has been offered during tho week. Bright samples in Fhippln? cr>ler .iro in jfood domnnd. On SatunHv last we offered and sold 00 tons pale seal oil, ex Sarah File, at .£24 par ton, f.o.b. Grain. — Tho market for all descriptions has been quiet, pending "reports as to harvest operations. For wheat quotations are unaltered. Oats havo been in. moderate request, at 3s lOd to 4s, according to quality Messrs J, asb A. Maolkan report for veekeidinjj 4th February, as follows :— Fat Cattle— The market was not so lavsroly supplied on Wednesday as it has been lately, about HO hcud only beinpf forward ; but on account of tho trade beinjr nearly all supplied only 50 bond changed hands at prices averaging about 20s per lOOlbs for prime beef, and 17s Cd per lOOlbs (or medium quality, which wo quoto as present ratos. Fat Sheep. The largo number of ISOO wer« penned, principally fair to prime quality, sony} of which were turned out unsold, the balance realising — for merino wethers, 7s Od to 8s each : morino ewes, 4s Od to G< ; half-bred' wethers, 11s to 13s Gd. Wo quoto prime cross-breds, $\<\ per lb ; do merinoa, 2d perlb, \h\t Laitibs,— !iao were penned, and etanngod hands at price 3 ranging from 03 Odto 10s 6d, according to quHlity. Wo sold a draft on account of Mr W. Hoon»n, at quotations. St re Cattle.— No transactions to report. Store Plieop. -The demand for young shoep of all kinds still continues good. Wo havo during tho woek placed 2000 half-bred ewes and 40* 0 merino wothow at full rates. We quote good Ji»lf.bred B wes from IO» to 183 ; do pothers, ttpm 7i 64 to 0» ; da,

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At * 8 lambs, 7* fld to 8s ; merino wethers, 6 and 8-fto 7s; Od to ss; merino ewes, 2, 4, and 6-tooth, frorr full (none broken), from 4s to ss. nbs. and Bams— We have placed 150 Leicester rarg mo s and are in treaty for several large lots of / Leiceiters. Aswcek.lwt Wool. — We have had no auction sak.t or y prices, have sold 150 bales privately at fc^ large clips, and have all but closed for several q£ to rcnort this Hides, Skins, and Tallow.— No r l n<^ k> - ™n. , . *•„ /quiet, and quotaGram. -The market still remfo]^, w heat, 4s Od to tions without change. Prime i^ od to 4b> \v e have 6s ; interior, 4s to 4s 6d ; oat|j£ quotations placed parcels during the wtf uct \ on by tho GovernIn addition to the sales / orded illol ( r issU e of yenmerit of township > sections, teken place at Georgeterday, similar sales have* H ampden, Anwtcnvn, town, Maheno, Herh£f L T1 &r& r ' t hales effected Tnponui. Bfctriok, Cr< well wher * therli beemo d to jjereatTftipanuiand' ti^ At Tapanui about 75, sections were ,old.