COMMERCIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1951, 11 April 1889, Page 17

COMMERCIAL.

Some business is passing in cornsacks, and for trade lots 6s 3d per doz is being paid frpely. Fencing wire is firm at £11 per ton for No. 8, usual extras ; barbed wire is also firm at £23 10a to £24 per ton. Millers' lines have ruled during the week as follows :— Flour, £10 to £11 per ton ; oatmeal, £13 to £14 per ton; bran, £4 to FA 5s per ton; pollard, £5 per to.i ; chaff, £3 10s to £4 5s per ton ; pearl barley, £18 per ton. The National Mortgage and Agency Company have received the following cable advice dated London, April 3:—" The value of New Zealand wheat in London is 37s 6d per496lbs. The market is drooping." The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company have received the following telegram from their London office, dated the sth inst. : — " The frozen mutton market has an upward tendency. Wellington and Canterbury are worth respectively 4|d and 4£d per lb. Beef, fore and hind-quarters respectively, 3sd and 4§d." The Tekapo took 20 horses and 2300 tone colonial produce for Sydney from Wellington last week. . The largest publio sale of sheep over held at PaterBon's yards, Oamaru, took place on the 3rd (aays the North Otago Times), when no leas than 13,00i> crossbred sheep were sold. The condition* of sale were read at 1 o'clock, and within an hour every, sheep was sold. The sheep were good, and thebidding was very brisk. Prices ranged from 5» *>d to 7s for stores, and 9s for fat, and were reckoned remarkably sntisfactory. Mr A. Crawford, of the Victorian Travelling Dairy, wrote from Kyneton on March 'A to the Secretary for Agriculture as follows : — " I have the honour to enclose you a few statistics with inference to the yields of butter from milk, and the percentage of cream, lb will be seen that on an average the milk of 19 different places yielded nt the rate of lib of butter to 2*67 gallons, and a general average of the percentage of cream is 11*04. Both these are verygood, aid better than the usual yields of grass-fed cows in the United Kingdom. There it takes about three gallons of milk to the pound of butter, according to a report in the Live Stock Journal, and an average percentage of cream of 10 per cent. The above records are from 69 samples of milk ; pach sample, except in two or three cases, representing the average milk of from 10 to 50 cows, so that the general average represents the milk from Borne thousands of cows." Mr G. H. Campbell has received the following cable dated London, April 4th :— " Flax buyers refuse to go on buying except at much lower prices." The following is an extract from their London manager's letter, dated February 8, which lias been received by the Christchurch management of the New Zealand Shipping Company:— " It is not expected that prices of flax will remain so high, but the late advance in Manila hemp has led to a much greater use of New Zealand ilbre; and if the quality is maintained, there is good bopo of the article having hereafter a regular demand." At an auction of grain at Christchurch ou Wednesday by the N.Z L and AI.A. Co, the following prices w<ire obtained :— Prime milling Tuscan wheat up to 4s f.0.b. ; pearl wh^at uu to 3s f) I. and Hunter's at 3s 8d f.o.b. Prime oats sold aa high hs 2a S^d per bushel f.0.b., while smaller quantities brought the same price ex store, and a line of Dun oats were quitted at the same rate. A considerable quantity of barley was withdrawn, but a quantity of prime barley found purchasers r6 3s 6d ex.afcore. At a sale at Messrs Low and Taylor's Clifton|farm, Waikari, North Canterbury, sheep realised thefollpwing prices :— 500 half bred lambs at 6a, 1000 at 5s lOd, 500 at 5s 4d, 100 at 3s lid, 326 at 39 7d ; 2-fcooth halfbred ewes. 640 at 7s 6d ; 2 tooth crossbred ewes and wethers, 276 at 7s 8d ; 6-tooth httlfbred ewes, 1316 at 6s 6d ; 4-tooth half-bred ewes, 829 at 7s 9d • 6 aud 4-tooth halfbred ewes, 388 at 5s 6d ; 4-tooth halfbreci ewes, 276 at 6s lid ; 6-tooth halfbred ewes, 125 at 5s 3d; 2, 4. and 6-tooth wethers. 28 at 6s 9d. On account of Mr B. J. Mitchell, 2-tooth crossbred wethers, about 220 at 10s 7d. Mr W. Hume, of Gore, has received the account sales of rabbitskins shipped by him to London, and finds, after deducting all expenses, that he has a net profit of £4 10s per bale. Messrs Reynolds and Co., of Auckland, sent a email experimental shipment of butter to London, and got the top price ruling for the best Danish— viz., £5 16s per ewt. The Perpetual Trustees, Batat*. and Agency Company of New Zealand (Limited) report- th» following sales:— -100-acre farm in blocks I and 11, Tomahawk district, £\ 750 ciiah; Warrington estate, lot 6, £14 per acre; lot 20, £9 10s per acre; lot 2lv £13 10s per acre ; township of St. Kilda, lot 8. blosk XII, £45. The company also report the purchase (on hehalf of a client) of part of sections 29 and 30, block XX, Dunedin, with dwelling house thereon, for £550 cash. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency.,

Company (Limited) have received the following telegram from their London office, dated sth inst. :— "' Tallow has advanced Is per cwt since last report. Leather : Best sides are worth 9|d per lb " Mr D. M. Spedding sold at auction on Monday, by order of the registrar of the Supreme Court, allotments 27 and 28, subdivision of part of block 111, Forbury, for £230 cash, Mr Wren being the purchaser.

We are informed by telegram from Auckland that the New Zealand Sugar Company have increased the price of sugar by 10s per ton. The Argus of the 2nd reports of the Melbourne market :— " There was a good demand at the sugar sale this morning, with brisk competition ; the whole of the offerings being disposed of at prices fully supporting late rates. The sound portion of the catalogue consisted of 2542 pockets and 71 Hessian bags Fiji ex Fijian, and 1161 pockets and 70 bags Mauritius. Prices realised were, for fine whites, £24 to £23 155 ; grainy whites, £23 15s to £33 5b ; soft whites and counters, £23 to £22 10a to £21 15a : and low yellow counters, £19 to £18. Some damaged Mauritius sugar, comprising 1986 pockets and 30 bags, was also disposed of, first-class at £22 15s to £21 15s, and^second-class at £21^for net aash. To-morrow about 2000 packages sugar, various descriptions, will be offered at auction." The patrons of the Cardiff Dairy Company are in high feather overjthe practical result of the season's operations. Butter which they sent to London fetched 105s, and three lots which they sent to Sydney just after the collapse of the butter boom, and which had been lying in store there for many weeks (a pretty severe test of keeping quality), averaged lid per pound. In both cases the net result to the dairyman would be almost 8d per pound— not aa extravagant figure perhaps ; but when it is remembered that this is in hard cash, and that only 5d was obtainable from dealers at the periods when these lots were packed, it must be admitted that the selfcontent of the projectors of this modest little enterprise is Bomewhat excusable. The Ngaire and Midhurst factories, working on similar lines, are achieving similarly satisfactory results, and the croaking of all those who predict all sorts of pitfalls in the way of our humble adventures may now be fairly estimated at their true value. As a matter of fact, butter from these three factories has, to the writer's knowledge, been pronounced by unquestioned judges as fully equal to separator butter.— Taranaki paper. Messrs Matson and Co. (of Christchurch) offered a large catalogue of grain on Saturday. There was a fair attendance, but there was little competition for first-class milling wheat, and barley was also slack of sale at the prices asked. Seconds milling wheat brought up to 3s 6d per bushel, and chick wheat from 2s 9d to 3s 3d ; feed oats ruled at from 2s 7d to 2s 9d ; farmers' dressed ryegrass from 2s 9d to 3s 3d ; and Becond-clasß cocksfoot sold at 2£d per lb. An 86-acre farm at Templeton was sold by Messrs Matson and Co. on Saturday for £16 10s per acre. Nelson, April B.— Hops are hardening in price, and Is Id is now the current rate. A commission agent in Gore (says the Mataura Ensign), on behalf of a client, submitted a sample of oats to 11 different buyers throughout Otago, and, strange to say, was offered prices ranging from 2s 0M to 2s 5d on trucks at a railway siding, at which latter price the oats were sold. The same commission agent tells us that, acting on behalf of Mr Alex. Sheed, he on Monday placed a line of 700 sacks of sparrowbill oats at 2s 4§d on trucks ab Pyramid siding. , Farmers are beginning to evince more inclination to sell their grain (says the Ashburton Mail), and a fair quantity of business was done on Saturday. Prices of wheat Bhowed a considerable concession on those demanded a week previously, prime Tuscan being sold at 3s 8d to 3s 9d, other sorts at 3s 6d, mixed lots in proportion, and at these prices buyere had a preference for Tuscan or parcels containing a preponderance of that description. Oats are in strong demand, and up to 2s 9d has been paid for prime heavy feed and prime milling. It is understood that consignments of new wheat to Sydney have not resulted so favourably to the shippers as the telegraphed quotations led them to anticipate. Prime milling has sold at 4s 6d to 4s 9d ex ship. On the sth inst. we (North Otago Times; drew attention to the unsatisfactory character of fche cable messages with reference to the Sydney markets, and since then we have been Bhown a private cable roceived in Oamaru giving the Sydney market quotations. We do not care to offer an opinion as to whether either of the messages gives the correct state of the Sydney market, but we publish the following from Messrs Goldsbrough, Mort, and Co. as a piece of information •■ "Sydney, April 2. Tuscan milling wheat, prime quality (saoks in), 48 lOd; Hunter's white wheat, prime quality (sacks in), 4s sd ; chickwheat, 3b 8d to 3s lOd ; maize, 3s 7d ; short feed oata, inferior quality (aackß in), 2s 9d ; short heavy feed, prime quality (sacks in), 3s 2d to 3s 4d: seeds, 3s 6d; bran, 1b If d ; pollard, Ib ~4d; chaff, to £6 ; potatoes, to £5 ss; all wheat easier; oats firm. Heavy rains last week ; still showery." The National Mortgage and Agency Company have received cable advice that New Zealand mutton is Belling at 3s per stone 81b. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company have been advised, under date the 9th mat., that " the wheat market is very weak. New Zealand average is worth 35s 6d per 4961b." The Dunedin Finance, Loan, and Agency Company offered for Bale by auction, yesterday, the dairy j farm adjoining the late James Macandrew's property, at Macandrew's Bay, containing about 67 acres, being section 20, Upper Harbour West, and application 321 and part of application 1269, block I, | Otago Peninsula District. The property was disposed of to Mr Wm. Milne for £1905. Messrs Barry and Co., of Calcutta, in their oircular dated 11th March report:— Jute fabrics •. The market for heavy goods remains dull, the only trans- j action reported for the colonies being a line of 700 I bales woolpacks, at Its 1-2 6 for ll£lb. The scarcity j of light goods for early delivery has enabled sellers to obtain Ha 21-8 for bran bags for March, though for j April and May-June shipment Bs 24 and 23-8 respectively have been accepted. Potato and flour ' bags are unchanged at quotations. A comparative \ statement of the exports of bags to the colonies shows that while in 1889 only 5000 were sent to New Zealand the number in January 1888 was 49,000. Castor oil: Seed coming in now more freely; crushers have resumed operations, and 1200 cases are reported to have been placed for shipment to the colonies about the end of this month at Rs 13 to I Rs 13-2-0 per maund. Quotations (New Zealand I equivalents— freight, 62b 6d per ton ; exchange, Is j 4 13-16 d per rupeo)— No. 3 quality in cases, 2s 4sd per gallon ; do in half-cases, as s§d per gallon. There are no vessels loading for Australian colonies.

The Dunodin Brokers Association report cue tol lowing prices for the week ending April 6 :— Banks — Prom To Colonial ... ... £2 1 6 £2 2 6 New Zealand (old issue) ... 8 0 0 8 5 0 New Zealand (new issue;,.. 713 0 718 0 Infiuranoe — Colonial ... ... 0 4 0 0 4 3 National ... ... 0 18 9 0 19 3 New Zealand Insurance ... 3 12 0 314 6 Standard ... ... 0 13 6 0 14 0 Union ... ... 15 9 16 3 New Zealand Shipping ... 217 6 3 0 0 Goal— Kaitangata Bailway and , Coal ... ... 19 2 6 IP 7 6 Walton Park ... ... 0 5 3 0 5 9 ' Westport Coal ... 2 9 0 210 0 Miscellaneous— Dunedin and Suburban Tram 0 2 0 0 2 3 Mosgiel Woollen Factory ... 317 6 319 6 New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency ... 3 10 34 0 National Mortgage and Agency Company ... 012 6 012 9 Otago Daily Times ... 717 6 8 2 6 Roslyn Tramway ... 110 0 111 0 Trustees and Bxeoutors ... 12 6 13 6 Mining CompaniesBig Hiver Extended ... 05 0 0 5 6 Fair Maid (contributing)... 0 5 9 06 0 Globe ' ... ... 019 6 10 6 Inkerman ... ... 0 5 6 0 5 9 Keep-it-Dark ... ... 116 6 117 6 Lone Star ... ... 0 0 10 0 12 Nil Desperandum ... 0 16 0 19 ' Progress ... ... 19 6 110 6 Scotia' ... ... 0 3 9 0 4 0 United Alpine ... 018 0 019 0 Wealth of Nations ... 0 3 9 0 4 0 Golden Treasure ... 0 2 6 0 2 9