COMMERCIAL

Otago Witness, Volume 01, Issue 2123, 1 November 1894, Page 26

COMMERCIAL

Mr R. B. Bennett, agent for Messrs Henry S. Fitter and Sons, has received the following cablegram from the London office, dated October 22 :—" Canterbury mutton, 3|d to 33d ; $o lamb, 4Jd to std : Wellington mutton, 3d to 3Jd ; Otago mutton, 3d to 3Jd. Australian auuop. v!id ; beef— hinds 2Jd to 2}d, fores 2d to 2id." The low values for wheat quoted in English cable mes-aze3 from time to time, ranging down to 18h 3d pei- quaiter, need cause no surprise in the face of the estimates given by authorities as to the woild's whe.it harvest. The Hungarian Minister for Agriculture (says a Home paper) has issued figures to show that the yield this year is 2,476,000,000 bushels, this being 2o9,ooo,ooo bushels over the average. Dornbuech, a recognised authority, estimates the surplus at 54,000,000, and Beerbohm, who is said to invariably underestimate the wheat production, while carping at the Hungarian estimate, still concedes that " the surplus at the disposal of the importing countries will exceed their wants at anything like a reasonable level of values." When doctors differ patients die, but in thig instance it is unnecessary for either doctors or prophets to predict that there is a great deal more wheat in the world than human beings will consume, unless it can be converted into some other form of food thau mere breadstuff*. The pork industry, for instance, should expand at n rate the world never saw before with so much cheap grain everywhere awaiting disposal iltvsr^ John ano C> icp-nt mi li-r <.U'e (Jia-^jw, ]Jth heotumljei :— Olu'ce : ISm^ out lifit Hsiiij the lm-rktit ha.s britii veiy ao(.i'.v, with v lsr^e buji>ie-is ptissing on spot, but forward saU-fl hive licea diflicult to make, buyers having no confidence i» the market. The make in Canada and the SUtes is probably one of the largest on record, and prices would have been moderate, with a very large badness, but for speculation liavinx ."tcpped in and run prices up beyond a ba-is of fid per pound retail cut. At the moment there are probably more cheese held in Canada and the States than ever before, and unless holders art ronr fttoiui fiuMQlally it 1b quite

possible that a considerable break in prices may take place. We are still receiving shipments of New Zoalands, and we are pleased to report we have made 51s to 53s notwithstandiag the competition from London brokers, who are quoting 453 to 47s and making very little progress even at these rates. Scotch cheese have been in abur* daut supply, especially lower grades, and these are difficulc to place, while choicest are a little firmer.