Dunedin Commercial Report.

Otago Witness, Issue 1296, 30 September 1876, Page 11

Dunedin Commercial Report.

Witness Oppiojc, Thursday Morninß.

There can be no mistake, we think, in concluding that the Spring trade has fairly set in, and, if so, with a reasonable prospsct of continuance till the next further stage in the year's business has been attained. There is hope in the prospect as well as in the reduction of imports which has taken place, and in the resultant fact that daylight 1 is breaking at last through some too long over-stocked items. Since we formerly alluded to tho subject we have not loarned that credit is lesi stable, or that renewals are becoming alarmingly frequent. In Southland, tho number of failures for small amounts is large ; but the liabilities are widely scattered and not seriously felt. Grain has been a rising market on the whole since our last. Flour has been steady during the month at from £12 to £12 10s. It is again advancing, and commands readily from £12 10s to £13. There is a good local, with fair export demand. Wheat is in request at from 6s to 6s 6d, according to quality, but coming forward very slowly. Prices have prooably touched the highest point, since CalifDrnian shipments will check any further advance. The mail steamer, we observe, h«s brought to Auckland 2500 hags. Ho'ders would do well to consider the circumstance of low rates in California which leads to such attempt to obtain a market here, as well as to tho condition of the grain market In London, which rales iho movements there, as it must also Jn Otago and otherwheres. In oats, real prime are not over abundant. Stocks are light, and farmers being busy seeding, they the less readily come to hand. Prices have improved, and for milling and seed samples from 2s 2d to 2s 3d may be 'moted ; for feed, from Is lOd to 2s Id. Oatmeal is quoted by the millers at from £11 10s to £12. Barley is almost unsaleable ; malting samples out of inquiry. Pearl barley is still quoted at £22. Pollard maintains the Advanced price of £6 10a ; bran of £s— but the supply is quite unequal to the sustained demand which comes from Australia. Orders are in town to one firm from Sydney and Brisbane for 50 tons for each place, at £7 per ton. There has been n. demand— only possible in the spring —for clover, and a good deal has changed hands ; retailers give Is Id for whito, lOJd for red, Is 4d for nlsyke, Is Id for cow grass. A good deal remains on hand from last year's stock, the shipments this beuson. betiiEj unusually light. The market remains in very much ihc same condition in which we have again and agiin had to report it. In hams and bauon, the new season's local cures are in brisk demand just at present, commanding lOd for prime. Tho imported article is, however, a drug, moving very slowly, the charm once attached to the old brands— Sinclair's, Cooey's, Pren.ter's—lessening gradually. The local manufacture ii .in some instances, we are glad to note, well spoken of. Butter is in over supply, holders keeping it back and not forcing it into tho mwket. Cheese is in languid enquiry, its value not over 9£d. Tinned and other fish is in fair demand. Quotations— for Sinclair's trcon. Is ; hams, Is 2d to Is 4d ; Prenter's hams, la Id to Is 3d. ( For preserved fish as follows :— Ling, 4Jd to 5d ; salmon, American, Ss 3d to 8s 6d per doz. ;■ blue cod, lib tins, 8s; oyitere, do do, 6s to 6s Od; sardines, quarters, 6s ; do, halves, 9s 8d ; cheese, Colonial, Canterbury, 8d to B£d ; hama, Colonial, Is to Is 2d for prime : bacon, Colonial, lid to Is ; butter, Is2dtols4d. Messrs M. and J. Mibnan, George street, report the following as the latest quotrtions :— Flour— Large bags, Ll2 10s ; small do, Ll3 per ton , Oatmcwl— Lll ocr ton. Peart Barley— L22 per ton Bran — L 5 15s, including bajjs. Pollard — L 6103 per ton. Chaff— L4 per ton.Hay— L3 15s to L4per ton. Potatoes — L 3 15s to L 4 per ton. Carrots— L2 10s per ton. Wheat — 4s Cd to 4s 9d per bushel, to 53 6d for milling Barley— 2s 9d to 3s 6d per bushel. Oats — 2s to 2s 2d per bushel. Butter— Fresh, la 2d ; salt d 9, Is to la Id per lb. Cheeso— 9d to lOd per lb. Ejjgß— lOi to lid per doz. ,i"' DUNEDIN WHOLESALE PRICES CURRENT. Flour, Ll3 and Ll2los ; bran, 80s;.oatmoal, Ll2; pearl barley, 235; chaff, 80s; potatoes, £,&■ Dried Fruits.— Currants, 6d; Sultana raisins. Did: Elomes, 6Jd to 7d ; muscatels, la 2d. Alea — Devenish's, 12s; Tennant's, or lounger's, 12s ; Arrow's, lls ; Bass's, 12s. Porter, duty paid — Blood's, 12a 6d ; Guinness*, 12s 9d ; Pig brand, 13s. Tea, duty paid.— Common, Is lOd to 2s ; good medium, 28 3d to 2s Od ; superior kinds, 2s 9d to 3s ; boxes, 26a to 325 ; orange pekoe, 2s 9d to 3s ; runpowder, 2s 9d to 3s. Sugar, duty paid.— Fine whites, L 46 to L4B ; grey crystals, L 44 10s to L45 10s : yellow do, L44toL 45 • second yellows, £42 to £43 ; ration, L 39 to L4O • Victorian whites, L 46 to £48 10s ; Ynrraville whites, L4O; finest counters, L 42 to L 44 ; crushed loaf, 545, m kegs. ' Spirits, in bond. -Brandies : Otard's, 7s 9d ; do. in •Jaso, 275; Associated Vineyard, 6i 6d and 20s; Hennessy's, 8s 6d per gal. : do. in case, 33s ; Bisquit's brandy, 7s 6d and 255. Whisky, Glenlivet, 9s ; Rob Roy, caso, 193 ; Old Highland, 10s ; Glenury, Ps 6d; Scotch and Irish, 5s to 7s ; Longjohn's in case 18s 6d ; Hazelburn whisky, bulk, 6g. Rum, 4s 6d to ss. Lome, buUi, 6s Cd ; case, 19s ; Geneva, JDKZ, per case, 13s ; Old Tom, per case, Burnett's, 15s ; Swaine Boord'e, 14s. Kerosene.— Devoe's, 2s 8d (duty paid) ; Diamond 2s 6d (duty paid) ; Silver Light, 2s 6d. ' Candles, lOJd. SKENE'3 LABOUR EXCHANGE. The demnud for useful people of all sorts is gradually Improving with the opening season. The new arrivals seem a good class, if as good as appearances. A month should see them all busy. Shepherds, ploughmen labourers, bushmen, &c, are now freely asked for' Station couples are still stiff. Female servants' trained to plain work, are very difficult to secure' Shopmen and clerks are too plentiful. Town and buildina; trade is slowly improving. Wages : Couples £65 £70, and £80; shepherds, £C 0 and £05; plou~h'moa' £52, £55, and £00; dairy hands, 15s, iOs, and~2sdper week ; carpenters, 10s to 13s ; house^irls, 10a, 15s and 203 ; hotel do, 123, 15s, and 20s ; cooks, grooms gardeners, &c,, 20a to 50s per week ; boys, 6s to 10s. ' COMMERCIAL TELEGRAKS. Wellington, September 22nd Mr O'Shoa reports produco pricos as follows ;— Flour £13 to 13 103 ; oats, 2s 4d to 2s 8d ; maize, 4s to 4s 3d' overstocked; bran, in full supply, Is 2d to la 3d • pollard, 7s to 7s lOd ; wheat— milling, no B*le— chick 3s 9d to 4s 6d ; hams and bacon, overstocked, 6d to Sd • cheese, 9d ; potatoes, 755. ' Auckland, September 23rd Mr Binney reports :—: — Four, • £13 10s ; bran £7 • pollard, £7 ; oatmeal, £14 ; wheat, 5s 6d ; oats 2s fld' barley, 4s ; maize, 4s Od ; potatoes, 4s 10d • ' hams' bacon, 6d ; cheese, 3d ; butter, Is ' Sidney, September 23rd. Adelaide flour, £12 10s ; wheat, 5s 6d ; o»ts verr plentiful, and price unsettled ; candles, 93d to lOd Hcsnnessy'a c«e, holders are asking 80s 6d to 31* '• quarters, 7s. Rice, about £21 10s to £22 ; Company's sugars, price £36. v J Messrs Wkibht, SrBrKBNsoN, and Co. report, for the week ending 23rd Septomber, 1876, as follows :— Fat Cattle.— 90 head wore yarded, 40 head of which wore from Messrs Studholmo Bros ; and the rcmaiuintr 50 from the N.Z. and A.L. Co. The small supply and vory superior quality of both tots caused prices to advance considerably. Prime boef brought from 37s Od to 40s per 1001b. Fat Cfclves are in pood demand. Fat Sheep.— There was a full market, 2200 beinff penned. We sold on account of James Smith Esq of Greenfield Station, 512 cross-breds, at 13 8 od • on account of Mark Dale, Esq. , 420 cross-hreds, ut from 14s to 16s 3d ; on account of R. S^merville Esq 150 croHB-breds and merinos, at lls 3d. We quote prime mutton 2Jd per lb. r Store cattle and Store Sheep.— We have no transactions to report. Hones.— There is a srood demand for medium ' draughts and strong coach horses. At cur yards on Saturday a fair amount of horses came forward and a good many changed hands. We have to report havinir sold for 180 guineas, on account of Messrs Craitr and Wylio, the, black Clydesdale 'enti-e Black Champion to Mr G, Kirkwoodj for shipment to the North islwid

We beg to call the attention of farmers and breeder* to our annual walking show of entire horse*, ;whlch will take place on Tuesday, 3rd October. 'We quote first-cla«s draughts £45 to £55 ; medium, £35 to £40 ; light do, £25 to £30 ; good hacks and light harnew horses, £20 to £30 ; medium do, £12 to £18 ; light and inferior, £3 to £10.

Sheepskins.— Lt our weekly sale on Wednesday there was a full attendance «f buyers. Wo catalogued and sold 1270 skins, for which there was spirited competition, and prices obtained show an 'advance oh last week's rates. Butcher's green skins, half-breds, sold at from 4s 4d to 6s each ; merinos, 2s 9d to 33 Gd; station akina. Is lid to 4s ; pelts, la to Is 2d. Hides — We cannot report any improvement in values. At our weekly sale we disposed of 100 nt from 12s to 15s 9d each, baing equal to froni'3d to 3Jd per lb., which may bo quoted as market rates. Tallow.— Thero in a fair demand,'but very little suitable for shipment is offering. We' "quitted several lota inferior and medium, at £20 to £25 per ton for former, and £28 to £30 for latter. ; Grain.— Wheat much wanted, but little 'offering. Any superior lots coming forward would sell readily at 5s 6d per bushel. Medium qualities are also in demand at from 4s 9d to 53. Oats continue scarce, the market' being very bare. At anction, 1 we disposed of 407 baga good fesd, at 2s Id to 2s 2d per bushel, which may b« takon as market value. Prime milling are worth 2s 3d to 2s 4d per bushel. Barley continues dull, but v there are very few samples (of prime malting offering, we hope soon to see an improvement. Medium and Inferior samples are difficult to quit except at vory low prices.

• Mr Hbnrt Driver (on behalf of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co.) report* for the week ending September 27th, 1876 :— , i Fat Cattle.— The market was fully supplied with 1 50 , head of ordinary to fair quality beef. As there was an. entire absence of really prime pens, and the niimborof medium cattle was in excess of the requirements of the trade, these could only be disposed of at comlder* able reduction on last week^s rates, in fact, a p*rtlo» could not find buyers at any price, and had to bf turned out. Best bu. locks brought up to £13 10s ; do ;cows, £10 103. We quote average price of best quality in yards to-day, at not over 3-2s Cd per 100 lbs; ordinary ,27s 6d to 30s. We sold on account of J. P. Kitching, Esq., of Moa Flat, and others, 50 head at quotations, ,'anu have placed 35 head privately. Fat Sheep. — Nearly 2000 were penned, consisting of .fair quality cross-bred s. The number being more' than the market would bear, abo'it, one-third were turned out. Those sold realised for best cross-bredi, 14s to 14s 6d, second quality lls to 12s— or,', equal to ■ about 2fd per Jb. We sold 400 at yards. ' '' Store Stock.— As thero is every prospect of a 'forward spring, a fair enquiry has sprung up for. quiet' , well-grown bullocks and cows. We have 'sold 200 head : privately, and will offer 200 at Mosziel on 10th prox. We anticipate the supply of well-bred grown cattle for 'grazing purposes will not be sufficient to meet tho demand, as thero are now but few herds of magnitude , to draw from. , Wool.— Bytheprice catalogues received per Suez mail, the improved tone cf the sales is very apparent, all de»' scriptions sharing in an advance of Id to lid per lb., ,Bomoof the lighter -greasy wools fully 2d, thoie descriDtions having experienced the gmtest fall. The date of the opening of the October sales was not announced when the mail left, nor hai advice reached per cable : the latest states, wool, moderate demand, prices unchanged. I Sheepskins.— Wo catalogued 1300 for this afternoon's auction sale. Competition wiu brisk, the lato returns of wool sold having imparted more confidence amoDgst fellmongers. Butchers' green cross-breds selling at 4i 5d to ss ; merinos, 8s 6d to 3s 8d ; dry skins, croJibreds, 3s 6d to 3s lOd ; merinos, 2« 6d to Ss 6d.

Hides.— We sold 150 green slaughters, ,16s to 18s; wet salted, 3d to BJd per lb. Tallow. — We sold several tons of country rendered, Mixed, fair quality, £27 to £30; inferior, 24s Od to 20s; rough fat, 21s 6d per cwt. Grain. — Wheat is unchanged, nene offering 1 . <Js is reported to have been paid for prime noithern. We quote fair milling, 5s 6a. Outs are in active demand at 2s for fair feed, choice being 2s 2d : milling or seed, 2« 3d. Barley — We have sold some choice malting at 4a 6d: ordinary is heavy at 4s; milling, 2s 6d to 2s 9d: feeding, 2a to 2i 3d. . .'

Messrs Maclban Brothbbs report, for the week ending 21st September, us follows :— Fat Cattle.— The supply forward for Wednesday's sale was about 100 head, of the best quality aa a whole that we have ever seen yarded in this market. Of these, 40 head magnificent bullocks were from the herd of Messrs Studholme Bros., Waimate, which cold at £16 10s to£24, A special feature of the market was the appearance in our. yards of the first draft of SO head polled Angus cattle from, the Edendale Estate ol the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. These wero greatly and de«orvedly Admired, bainjf short of leg, light of bone, and qualify all over, and no dQubt they will prove, as this favourite ' breed has. done in the home country, most profitable to the grazier and butcher, as well as most profitable to the consumer. The N. Z. and A. L. Company are to bo complimented for their enterprise in establishing a herd of this valuable breed, their large importations of sires and dams being entirely from .the worldfamed herd of M'Combio, of Tillyfour. Our sales *t the yards consisted of the abovementioned 50 head polled Angus, at £12 15s to £10— or equal to 40s per lOOIbS. '

Fat Sheep. — A moderate supply of 1600 was penned, nearly all good quality, nevertheless the demand was weak, and a lew were turned out unsold. Beat cross* breds brought from 14s to 15s for extra heavy ; medium, 12s 6d to 13s Od— or equal to 2jd per lb. At yards wo sold 600 on account of John Gibson, Esq., Ashley Downs.

Store Sheep.— No transactions.

Store Cattle begin to attract attention, an,d a demand is springing tip for ■ well grown bullocks and spayed cows in forward condition for paddock fattening-. At West Tnieri, on 19th inst, we sold, on account of Messrs Campbell and M'Lean, Lake Wanaka, and others, 290 head at from £5 to £8 each.

Land. — At Port Chalmers, on 9th mat, we sold 26 sections in the Township of Mansford, at £20 to 60 per tection. We have also sold about 400 acres, portions of the Crlchtcn Kstatc, Tokouiairiro, tho property of tho Honourable James Paterson, at a satisfactory price. Wool. — Catalogues to hand per San. Francisco mail show a considerable improvement in prices, »nd much greater regularity than at the earlier sales of the Series. Advices, however, do not encourage the expectation of any very marked advance for some time to come. Sheepskins were well competed for at our sale yesterday, and brought full rates, say, dry skins—morino, Is lOd to 3s ; cross-breds, 2s 6d 10 4s. Groen cress-breds are worth from 3s 9d to 4s 6d, according to quality. Hides.— We did not disposo of any at auction, but placed privately 100 at 13s to 10s for medium, and up to 2l« for heavy weights— equal to 3d per lb.

Grain.— Wheat is m 'great demand, tho supplies coming forward being very limited. We quote best at 5s Cd : medium, 4s 6d to 5s ; inferior, 3s Od to 4s. Barley has been enquired for, but we have heard of no transactions. We quote primo at 4s to 4s 6d ; inferior, at 2s to 2s 9d, for milling and feed. Oats are in small supply, and very readily saleable at 2s 3d tor feed, and 2s 3d to 2s 4d for milling and seed.