SKENE'S LABOUR EXCHANGE REPORT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1159, 14 February 1874, Page 14

SKENE'S LABOUR EXCHANGE REPORT.

February 11th, 1574. Another fortnight of this splendid weather will see most otthu crops safely housed, «"»d o« r agricultural friend-, v\ ell satisfied. Ay orayo crops and above arc the rule, barring those farms v\ hero incessant cropping has bciiii to iet.ili.ito on the purses of those who try to draw the last dying effort out of it. Every good man is well paid at harvest work. Dunedin is almost cleared of w JlHnu' hands. Wages are still at about tho same ii"ure as last v\cek. No fixed sum for harvest by the week, but tha range is from 40s to 50s. Plough, men, per year, -t-52 to £55 and £00 and found ; shop herd's, per year, £00 and tound ; gardeners, per year, and skilled labour of all kinds are fully cinploved and wages keep firm. It is almost impossible to supply the demand for female sonants'. There will be no rolitf until one or two homo ships turn up. A really uood general servant cun get £45 ; and nn A 1 cook £52. Nurso girls are much wanted, Messrs Wiuunr, Stkniknson a.yd Co. report for tho week ending 11th February as follows :— Fat Cattle.— There was a full market, the number vardod being 115 head, chiefly of middling quality. We sold 30 head at from £4 to £7 7h 6d. Othor sales wore 50 head, the balance being turned out. we onote primo quilitr, 20s per 1001b; medium do, 17s Od. We nlbo sold privately 22 head at £(J ss, equal to~2os per 1001b. Fat Sheep.— A fair amount ciime forward, CnO wcro penned, of which wo soid 250 half-breds at 12s tv , l's 3d and 100 merino ewes at 5s Pd. AYe also sold privately 250 half-breds at 2}d per lb, and 400 merino wethers at 2Jd, which figures represent present markot ratos. , „ Fat Lambs.— About 00 were ponnca, mostly ordi* nary quality. Prices obtained were from 7i> to 8s Cd Store Cattle.— The demand for this class of stock is rather lighter. We hnvo, however, played privatoly and at auction 134 heai, at- -For bullocks, £4 5s : cows, £3 to £3 5s ; yoarlings, .tl 15s to Ci. Store Sheep —Wo have enquiries for young merino owes and wethers and for cross-bred owes, but ihe urico* nilied ny holders are far beyond buyers' vievv3. We havo placed 4000 of different descriptions at our Quotations. Wo quote merino ewos, 2 und 4-tootb, 7s; do withers. ss ; do ovvos, full-roo\uhod, 4s to ss ; crossbred?, mixed, 8s ; do, lambs, 7s Cd to Ss ; do, owos, 10s t0 Horses.-Good draughts ore still in demand. At our yivrds on Saturday, a considerable mimbwboib ,tf draught and light harness horw» changed hud*, On

Saturday, the 14th instant, we shall offer, at our yards, a very superior shipment of draught mares, e^x Alhatnbra, from Melbourne. We quote first-class draughts, £55 to £60 ; medium do, £30 to £35 ; good hacks and light harness horses, £18 to £25 ; medium do, £U to £15 ; light and inferior, £3 to £7.

fheepskias.— We held our usual sale on Thursday last, and disposed of sundry lots, chiefly pelts and station skins, as follows :— station skins, 4s to 5s 9d each ; pelts, Cd to 17d ; lambskins, 15d to 20d.

Hides.— We quitted several lots, medium weights, at from 15s 6d to 19s each. Grain.— Wheat is m fair request, and Rood samples are saleable ac 4s 6d per bushel ; inferior, 4s to 4s 3d ; fowls' feed, 8s (sd. Oats are wanted, and worth Is and 3s lOd per bushel respectively for milling and feed.

Messrs Diiiveb, Stewart, and Co. report as folows for the week ending February 11th :—

Fat Cattle. — 70 head were yarded at the Knikorai today, about half of which were of good qua ity, the remainder bus medium. The trade, however, tonk all that were offered, at prices varying from £5 to £9 for buliocks, and f roui £3 15s to £8 foi cows. W hile we are pleased to notice that prime quality continues to command late prices, medium to inferior are only saleable at about store rates. Prime quality may be quoted at 20s per 1001b : inferior grades to quality. We sold 35 head at top rates on account of Messrs James Brown, A. M'Lsren, and G-. M. Bell, and have placed 25 head privately. Fat Sheep.— 4oo very good quality merinos were penned to day, which we sold at from 7s Od to 8s Gd each ; and we have sold, privately, 700 merinos and 300 cross-breds. We quote prime cross-bred iat 7-^d, merinos 2d. Fat Lambs.— Only 40 were penned, which we sold at 9b.

Store Cattle.— We have not heard of any large transactions in this description of stock, and we have placed in various lots about 100 head. Store Sheep.— We have numerous enquiries for young merino sheep and cross-dreds, with but few otfering, most of the flockholders desiring to dispose of their full mouthed ewes and wethers. We quote cross-bred wethers- Two-tooth, Ss to 9s; do four to six-tooth, at 9s 6d to 10s : cross-bred lambs, 7s (id to Ss (id ; merino wethers, two, four, and six-tooth, at Us to Cs o'd ; full-mouthed, 5s to 0s ; young niei mo ewes, 6s Od to 7s. AYe have sold, during the week, of various descriptions, 10,000 at quotations. Real and Leasehold. — We are still able to report a very active demand for good freehold properties, which it is satisfactory to note are wanted for bona Jide investment.

We iiave sold, on account of Messrs Campbell Bros., their Waimahaka estate, Tois Tois, consisting of 1300 acres, at £3 per acre, to Mr James Holmes ; also their Cabbage Tree Hill estate, Hokanui, consisting of 5100 acres, at £2 5i per acre, to Fitzwilham Wcntworth, Esq. AYe are in treaty for the disposal of two or three very valuable station properties, which have recently been pi iced m ourh<uids, and anticipate being able to report sales at an early date. We understand that John M'Lein, Esq., has sold his Lindis stations, with 140,000 sheep, to the Hon. Colonel Whitmore for £130,000

Also, that Watson bhennan, Esq., has sold his Ilighfleld station, Maniototo, to Messrs Holland and Thos. M'Keilar, E«q ; his Tapanui station and free hold to David M'Keltar, Ksq. Wool.— bince date of our last, no public sales have beon held, but privately there has been a moder ite dotnand, and we have placed several parcels at equal to late quotations. Our next sale will be held on Monday, 10th inst., when v c shall submit a catalogue of about SOO bales.

Sheepskins.— Our usual weekly sale this diy vvai well aiteuded, and all the lots offered were disposed of at fair vmlihs, pelts fetching 9d to 16d ; dry merino skin I*,1 *, from 2f to 5s 5d each, and T.id per lb. Hides.— About 150 citalogued are held ever for next sales. An impression appears to be abroad that the Victorian Government have prohibited the import of hides to tlut Colony, and hence some shippers have been chary of operating. Our last advices from our Melbourne agenti, however, announce that that prohibition was only in force for a few days, when it w»s found to interfere serioiuly with the leather trade of that Colony, and thereupon was withdrawn. 'fallow. — Only afew casks very ordinary quality were offered to-day, and sold at .£2B per ton. Good samples in shipping order would command full prices.

Gram.— Wheat: Reports of the harvest from all quarters, but especially fiom the Northern districts, are very favourable, the yield per acre being estimated above the average, and the quality of tha gram excellent. We hay cheard of no transactions in the now crop Oats arc also a good crop as regards vicld mid quality, but v\c doubt if such a qua.nty will bo available tor export as was at one time anticipated. The market has opened in Oamaru at 2s 9d to 3s 3d, tho latter for immediate delivery, the former for a parcel of 12,000 bushels deliverable after the harvest. Good old oats may still be quoted in town at 3s lOd.

Messrs J. and A. Maclean' report, for the week ending 11th February, us, follows :—: —

Fat Cattle.— The market was fullj supplied on 'Wednesday, 115 head being jarded, principally medium qualify. One or two pens of prime beef realised prices equ.il to last >\uok, or about 20s per lOOlbs, medium quality realising from 15s to 17s Od per lOOlbs, uhich we quote as present rates Fat Sheep.— There were not so many forward this week as the two previous weeks, about COO being penned, which were nearly all disposed of at the following prices— viz , for cross-breds, from 10s to 12s ; norino wethers, Cis (id to 7s ; merino ewes, 5s to 5s OdAVo emote prime cross-breds, 21a per lb ; do merinos, 2dperlb. l< at Lambs,— Only 60 were penned, whidi realised from 7s to 8s each. We sold a draft on account of Mr Anderson, at highest quotation. Store Cattle.— Vo transactions to report.

Store bheep. —The demand for young sheep, particularly merinos, very active, with but few offering-. Cross-breds, 4 and li-tooth, arc also much enquired for. Full-mouthed ewes and wcthcis (merino) are plentiful, and as the season advances we anticipate v demand for this cl.iss fully equal to the supply. Wo sold during the week JioOO moriuo owes, and 1500 cross-brods, at satisfactory prices. We quote 2, 4, and ti-iootr} merino owes, Cs to 7s ; full-mouthed, 4s 6d to, 5». Wethers, 2, 4, and O-tooth, o.s Od to 6b Gd ; fullmouthed, ss, Cross-brud owes, 2, i, and 6 tooth, lO.s to 12s Do Jo wethers., 2 and 4-tooth, Bs> to fls. Do do lambs, 7s tirt to 3s. W»ol. —We have had no auotion sale this week, but have sold privately two clips at fall market rates, and are In treaty for several other lots.

Grain. —Wheat quotations still remain without ehanve. In oats we have disposed of several lots during the week for shipment and otherwise at full rates. We quote prime samples wheat, 4s o'd to 4s 9d; inferior, 4s to 4s 3d. Oats, 3s lid to 4a.

Tlio lease of run 440 was sold by auction at the Swrvoy Oiilce, Quecustown, on the 30th ult. The run is situate in tho interior pastoral district, and has an area of 100,000 acres. Tho nature of the run may bo easily inferred from tho fact that one mountain within jts boumlaues, tho Red Mountain, is OliOO feet high, that another summit, Cosmos Peak, situato partly \yithin its border, is 8000 feet, and that the minimum assessment H calculated on 5000 sheep. Tho leoso of the run, which is for a term of ten yoars, was sold at tho unset price, namely, a premium of £208 Cs 3d, and n payment por annum of £145 10s Sd, being tho assessment as oontputed on 5000 sheep ; and if the run bo stocked above the minimum number, 7d for evory additional head of small cattle, and 3s (id for evory extra head of groat cattle. Tho purchasers wcro Messrs J VV, ltobertson and Co.

A wheat stripping machine imported from Adelaide, is being tried on a farm at Matalnata, Auckland. It is stated that it works " most admirably." With its aid one man and three horses can strip from eight to ten aorep per day,