THE WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 14

THE WOOL SALES.

The first of this season s wool sales was held in the Agricultural Hall on the 21bt, when catalogues were submitted by the under-mentioned firms ©f auctioneers : — Bales. Dalgety and Co 911 Wright, Stephe'nson, and Co. ... 532 New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company ... 825 Donald Keid and Co 757 Farmers' Agency Company ... ... 685 Mo'ritzsoa and Hopkin ... 671 Stronach Bros, and Morris -„« ... 517 Maclean and Co ... 320 Total „ ... 5518 There was * fair attendance of buyers, bub there was not much life shown in the sale, and while merino 3 showed an advance of up to •£d per lb a general decline in other sorts was noted, heavy wools selling at from f-d to l^d below last .year's Quotations, aud light and five

wools at a reduction of 4.d to The highest price obtained at the s vie for unsecured wool was Bjj'l per lb. Tha fallowing are the reports of the sailing brokers :—: — Dalcety and Co (Limited) report :— Wo held our firat sale for this season at the Agricultural Hall on Tuesday, 21st inst.' There was the usual attendauce of buyer', including representatives from English. Continental, American, and local malmfactureis, while our local fellmongers and shippers weie aho well represented. The condition of the wool this season as regards south wools Wiis much .the same ai latt year— if anything, lighter, — but the Otigo Central and' northern clips eho»v unmistakable signs of the dry winter, and in mauy instances of the scarcity of feed. '1 he most of the latter is very earthy, and the hogget wool especially tick-stained and tender. Competition for bright lustrous crossbreds was faiily keen, while good clean halfbreds and mciii os werj well competed for, and were all set ured for the Koslyp, Mosgiel, and i 'amaru mills. The I'emandfor medium to inferior halfbte^s and crossbreds was very slack, and suffered a decline as compared with last year's rates of j Jd to Id per lb. Our oatal"gue comprised 911 bale*, of which we Rold 66(5. The feature of our sale was Captain J*mes Gardiner's Birchwood clip, which was iv line condition, free and clean and. splendidly got up. Competition for every lo*. was very spirited, and, as will be seen from piices attached, the hallbrcd, cros->brtd, and merino fleece and pieces realised the highest price of any wools sold to-day. The following is a list of the highest prices of the wools sold by vi today :— Manx over Birchwood, 18 bales vary choice halfbred BJ.I per lb ; JM3, 1 bale halfbred 7£' l ; GK, 3 do 7Jd ; over JJ, 1 do 7Jd ; ML. 2 do 7d ; WB, 6do 7d ; PJ, 3do7d ; Manx over Bi.chwnod, 22 fino crossbred SJd, ?7 Ronmey 7fJ ; Xt?, 1 crossbred 7Jd ; W over C, 2do 7i-l ; WO, 1 do 7Jd ; DB, 3 do7id ; WB, 2 do 7Jd ; i'H, 11 do 7id ; TK, 7 do 7\\ ; Zff, 3 do 7d ; Xll, 7 do 7d ; II T, 4do7d ; UD, 3do7d ; Manx over Birchwood, Vi merino Bd, 3 do 7Ail, 6 crossbred pieces 62J, 9 do 6Vd ; JV, 1 do 01 f; VI, 5 do sid ; Manx over Birchwood, 1 merino 7d, 2 do 2nd pitcss sid ; Rs, 1 do 6Jd.

Messrs Wright, Stepiienson and Co. report as follows: — We held our first sale of the season in the Agricultural Flail to-day, when we submitted a catalogue of 832, bales grea y wool. The total quantity i ffered at this the first series of sales was 5i! 4 9 bales. Attendant -The attendance of buyers was good, the l'epi'tstentUives from Mosgiel, Roslyn, Oamaru, and Biuce mill*, as well as those from Yorkshire and Continental mills and all the local felltnongerii and shippers, being present. Competition — Bidding was very brisk for all the best lots and the finest grades of crossbred?, halfbreds, and merinos, but for wasty, shabby crossbre Is, _tbi\e quarterbreds, and longwools there was not the same keenness displaced, and as the bulk of the catalogues were made up of the c description 3 , fiom an outsider's view the Kales were somewhat depressing. For pieces and locks there was excellent competition, and almost every lot submitted was taken up at full market rates. Piices. — As compared with prices ruliDg at the last season's sales, these show the following changes .•—Merino", quaite breds, and the finest halfbreds, par to |d advance ; halfhreds and fine crossbred s, par to Jd decline ; cro^bieds and thrtfe-quartsrbreds, id to Id decline ; longwools and heavy shabby crossbreds and three quarterbreds, Jd to lid decline. The following are a range of current valuos : —

Condition. — The wool this season is for the most part well grown and of sound staple. The northern and Central Otago clips are almost without exception in heavy wasty condition, due no doubt to the exceedingly dry weather experience \ during the yf-ar. The wools from the south, especially the earlier shorn clips, are in fairly light condition, those from south of the Tokomairiro Plain being particularly clean. 'I he New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited) report having held their first sale of the season yesterday at the Agricultural Hh.ll Buildings, Dunedin, when there was a very full attendance of buyers, several of whom represented Home firms, also purchasers for the R-islyn, Mosgiel, Oamaru, and Bruce Woollen Mills ; besides all other local purchasers and Ml* mongeis, who were operating as well. Competition was fairly active up to certain limits, the keenest biddirg being for fine, light halfbred and cro sbvt-d, and even for the-e prices were, cmpared with last season's, £d to '}d per lb lower, earthy and coarse "grades suffering most. Greasy merino, on the other hand, showed a distinct advsiue on last year's rates, inferior to ordinary fetching 5d to 7d : inferior to ordinary halfbred and eros-bred, ssd to7i-i ; a few lots very superior, 7'] 1 to SJ.i. The catalogues submitted represented 5522 bales, mostly farmers' clips, very few of which we eof extra merit. Of the above we catalogued 547 bale*, most of which were disposed cf at quotations. Me -srs Donald Reid and Co. report :— We hold our first sale of the season's series at the Agricultural Hall, Crawford street, Dunedin, on Tuesday, tie 2Ut Decembc, 1807, when we put forward a catalogue comprising 757 balei of Leicester, ciossbrcd, and merino wools — nearly all farmers' grown lots from the coast districts. There was a full attendauce of buyers— English, colonial, and local manufacturers and woolstipltra being very fully represented. There was a'sDago-d gathering of farmers and flockowners concerned with the sales, who evinced a keen interest in the proceedings. The new hall in which the sales were held proved exceedingly well adapted for the purpose — centrally situated, large, airy, and well-lighted, and giving ample accommodation to all concerned. The acoustic propertie", which is a matter of the utmost importance in an auction room, proved excellent, and this conduced much to the convenience and comfort of both buyers and sellers. The wools displayed by us being chiefly clips off sheep which had been wintered on turnip«, were, with some exceptions, rather dark coloured, earth-stained, and heavy, and as a nile lacked the bright lustrous appearance so attractive to buyers, of clips from flocks that have been -well wintered on grass pastures. The bulk of the wools catalogued , by us were, however, very free from tick stains, and the fibre sound and well grown, showing that the sheep had been well cared for throughout the season. It was quite anticipated that price 3 would not be up to the values of last season ; and this was fully confirmed, as prices to-day show a drop of quite M to Id per lb on all Lincoln, Leicester, and coarse crossbred wools. We are pleased to note, however, that the finer sorts— fine halfbred and merino wools — are in comparatively better demand and have not suffered to the same extent, prices for these sorts being nearly up to, and in some cases quite equal to, those obtained last season. The total number of bales catalogued by the various brokers for this series was 5499. Bidding throughout our sale was fairly well sustained up to the limits above named, ami for the

finer sorts-of wool there was at times animated competition, and prices realised were fully 1 qual to the highest London equivalent values. Of the 757 bales catalogued by us 71(5 were sold at auction- and 41 balei passed in, bidding not being quitu equal to valuations or to owners' reserves. The following table shows 'current values :—: —

The following well-known brauds realised highest prices:— A over S. 4 bales greasy quarterbred H'h 2 halfbred 8d ; Tiiangle, 10 do 7?d ; \2, 3 crossbred 7'J 1 ; Hope Hill, 9 fine half hied 7?d ; ISK over Heiiot, 18 crossbred ewe 7'Jd, 13 do hogget 7Jd ; — over H, 3 first combing crossbred 7J»d ; Triangle, 12 crossbred 7id ; IV 1 h^fbred 7id ; a over S, 9 crossbred 7JI ; JG,3 do 7}d ; J€K over Heriol, 3 do 7id ; JP in Circle, 5 d.. 7T7 T i ; VI, 2 fine Ho 7i<l, 2crostb«d7id ; Keith Hall, 3 halfl»icd 7i I ; — over TO, 9 crossbred 7i 1 ;' m over »S, 1!) Romney 7iil, 1 crosshred 7d ; X, 1 d . 7d ; <-, over M, 3 ha'fbred 7d ; A-U, 4 crossbred 7d ; ICeith Hall, 15 do 7d, 2 Lincoln 7d ; IZ, (i crossbred 7d ; A over S, 7 do 7d ; i\ over — , 4 do 7d ; AO over 11, 3 h*lfl>r C d 7<l ; J VV, 2 Southdown 7d ; KB, 0 ha'.fbred 7d ; ID, 2 do 7d. The Farmers' Agency Company (Limited) report : — We held our first sale of the season :it the Agricultural Hall, Dunedin, to-day (Tuesday), iv the pro ence of a large gathering of buyers. There was also a good turn-out of growers, mobtly those interested in the sale. The quantity offert d was about 6000 bales, the greater part being Northern and Central Ota go grown. Buyers were loud in their complaints regarding the quality, which was considerably ■ below that offered at the corresponding sale of last year, most of the lots being earthy, dark in colour, and very wasty. For this description buyeis were cautious in their operations, and prices p.ii 1 for same show . a decline of 4d to Id per lb c >mpared to those paid for similar live» last seasou. On the other hand, the few lots of bright lustrou", well-grown wools that were offered elicited keen bidding, and fair prices were paid, the finer soits— halfbreds and long-htaple bright meriuos— mestiug most favour. Long wools were poorly competed for, and these also have suffered in value. Fellmoogers and others bid well for locks, pieces, and bellies, which brought well up to last ye.r's pricej. We cattloguel 701 bales, and sold 518 bale?. We quote :—: —

Inferior halfbred, 5d to s£d ; do crossbred, 5d to s}d ; do longwool, 5i Ito 5£.1 ; do meiino, 4J<l to sd ; do pieces, 2}d to 3d ; do bellies, 2Jd to 3J ; do locks, lid to lid. Scoured wool and slipe in very poor request. Messrs Moritzson and Hopkin report having held their first wool sale of the reason in the Agiicultur»l Hall yesterday. There was a laige attendauce of foreign and local buyers, but competition, we are sony to state, was very dull, except for a few lots of vo»y choice crossbred, for which prices mled well up to those of last teason. Good wools, however, were id 10-Jil per lb lower, while medium and inferior qualities had little attention, and comparing same with the opening sale of last yt-ar pricta were from J>l to Ijd per lb easier. Merino, on the other hand, was eagerly competed for, and showed a decided advancts. Locks and pitces also sold well, and bought satisfactory piices. The following were the range of values:— Supsiior halfbred, 81 to BJi;besfe balfbred and crossbred, 7d to 7s-l ; medium,- 6d to 6}d ; inferior, 51 to s|d ; beat merino, 7d to Sd ; medium, 63 to Cijil ; inferior, 5d to 5Jd ; bellies and pieces, 3i to 4id ; superior, 5d to rid ; locks, lid to 3d perlb. We catalogued ami offered b'64 bales, and also sold piivately 586 bales. Messrs Stronacu Bros, and Morris report as follows : — The first of the local sales was held today in the Agricultural H»ll, when GSOG bales were submitted by the various brokers, which, although a small offciing, is nearly 600 more than came forward for the corresponding silej of last season. There was a full attendauce of buyers, English and American firms being well repreented, together with purchasers for Mosgiel, Oamaru, Roslyn, and Bruce Wo alien Mils, and local shippers and fellmougers. Bidding, however, lacked animation, and we ffave seldom seen'a sale with less spirit on the part of buyeis. The bulk of our offiricg, although sounder in staple, was much heavier in condition than thut catalogued at fir«t sale last year, northern wools be'ug especially earthy and dingy. In the face of recent caWes from London, and the reports of northern tale?, it was anticipate 1 that values for all strong, coarse, and wasty wools would show a decline as compared with thote of last year, and this was fully b?rne out as sale 3 progressed, wools of above des&cription showing a drop of from id to Id per lb, while bright crossbreds sold a shade under rates of last season. Extra-fine, light hsilfbreds fully maintained last year's values, and merinos of goad characterweredecidedlydeaier. Pieceswereiu good demand, and sold about equal to last year's rates. The best clip submitted riy us w*s that bearing the well-known brand M over EH (grown by Mr Wm. R Moore, of Berwick), which made the top prices of the day — viz., BJd for halfbred, and BJJ for merino. Values ruling at our sale were as follows: — Greasy : Halfbred super 81 to BJd, do medium 6Jd to 7M, do infeiior 5d to 6d, crossbred super 7id to Bd, do medium GVi to 7iJ, do inferior 4Jd to 6d, merino super 7id to Bicl, do medium 6'id to 7id, do inferior 5Jd to Gd, good crossbred and halfbred pieces sid to 6d, anedium do 4jd to sd, inferior do ?d to 4d, inferior merino pieces 2Ad to 3i<3, medium do 3$J to 4Jd, good do 4Jd to sid, good locks JJd to 3d. We submitted a catalogue of 517 bales.

The followiug is the detailed catalogue:— VO over Bourpdale, 1 bale greasy fleece (part bellies) sid, 1 pieces (part dead wool) 33d, 1 second pieces 2Jd, 1 pieces Bid ; BN, 3 half bred combing ewe 6jd, 2 three quarterbred do 6£l, 1 do and halfbred hogget 6jd, 4 three-quarterbred combing hogget sJd, 2 crossbred combing do 6d, 1 crossbred combing ewe Rid, 1 crossbred diugy ssd, 2 pieces (I ewe, 1 hogget) 5Jd, 1 crossbred bellies 4id ; Tamnea, 3 merino ewe Gid, 2 merino Gd, 10 halfbred ewe 62d, 3 halfbred 6Jd,7 do hogget 52d, 1 fleece PJd, 1 pieces s}d, 1 bellies 4-jd, 1 do and fleece tyd, 1 locks and pieceß 2sd, 1 first pieces aud locks 3id ; AWGr, 5 halfbred (I part three-cruarterbred) Old, 6 three-quarterbred ewe 6d, 1 crossbred wether and hogget 5Jd, 1 crossbred ewe 5Jd, 1 mixed fleece sfd, 1 necks and fleece 5|i3, 1 first pieces 4d,l pieces and bellies 3£d. 1 dead wool and pieces 4d ; WJVI over — , 7 halfbred 6Jd, 1 bellies and pieces 4d, 1 pieces 3Jci ; Rlt over — , 6halfbred ewe Old, 1 pieces and bellies 4Jd ; — over T, 5 halfbred ewe (1 part three-quaTter-bred) 6Jd, 3 threequarterbred do 5Jd, 1 fleece and bellie3 4|d, 1 first pieces and neck>sld, 1 fleece pieces, locks, and dead wool 3Ad ; W <fc N, 4 washed, crossbred, sid, 13 " sline half-

bred Bd, 22 crossbred Bd, 2 Lincoln 7i 5, 1 merino 7id, 2 quarter-back 7£d ; RDM over NZ, 4 first merino sd, 2 quarter-back 7Jd, 8 washti .pieces 7Jd ; F, 1 locks and pieces 2d ; Kuri Park over J G, 6 greasy crossbred owes (A 4, B 2) 7Jd, 5 do hogget (A 4, B 1) 7d, 1 Leicester ewe and hogget 7Jd, 1 first pieces jsid, 1 s-cond do 4id, 1 bellies 4Jri, 1 locks 2}d ; M over Eff, 2 merino Bid, 19 lnlfbred BM, 6 do hogget' Sl-1, 5 halfbred 6}d, 3 do pieces SJI, 2 do bellies sid, 1 locks 2d; BBW, 3 crossbred sid, 1 piecesan't locks 3Jd ; B in diamond, 2 crossbred ewe A. 7J, 4 do B 7d, 6 crossbred hogget s?d, 1 do B 5d ; 20, 3 crossbred 6i<l, I merino Ci ; TJ, 2 crossbred (I ewe, 1 hogget) 6d, 1 washed _ pieces: 8?d ; B, 5 greasy crossbred hogget 6Jd';, 32, 1 11 e'rino 5Jd ; JB, 1 crossbred 4d ; JKS, 1 do 5Jd. 1 locks ljd ; Btf, 1 fine halfbred' combitrg hoggat 5Jd, 1 cro&sHie'd, combing and' staiued pieces 3d, 1 t-tained pieces and crossbred 3Jd, 1 cr. ssbred lock? I\A ; C over WT, 1 merino, lMm (part hogget) 7id, 1 do 7£d, 1 merino wether* 7}J, 6 first merino 7Jd. 5 second crojs wether first 7id, 7 cross wether 71 1,8 do second 7 Jd, 8 cross' wether 7}d, 5 Romney ram 713, 3 do hogget Bd. 1 Leicester 7}d ; KDM over NZ, 1 washed first clothing 3Jd.

Me-sra Maclean and Co. report : — The first, sales of the season were held in the Agricultural Hall to-day. The ottendance was a good average oiip, and most of the eld familiar faces were piesent. The bidding, c-xoept in Ihc ca r -e of any rrall - well g->t up paresis of fine wodls, was slow. We offered a catalogue of 3SO b\les, and under, really good competition sold every lot, except where we had to withdraw on account of wrong description or where more ia to follow. Our top price was BJd for a specially nita lot of five hallbred, and the grower is to be complimented upon the manner in which his clip was put together. Compared with last year's prices the difference ranges from id to Id where tha wool is clean, light, and, in sound condition, but in the cases of meoium to inferior quality the difference is rather marked, and ranges from Jd to Id, and iv tome cases even a little more. The following are our range of • pner-s :— Half bred 7d to BJd, croaahici 5H to 7d, three qutrterhred 6d to (3J-1 meriuo to 6Jil, bellies, and pieces 3Jil to si, locks 2Jd to 2Jd. 'Subjoined are "a few of the best prices realised :—: — Hat, 2 bales greasy er ssbied hogget 7Jd ; over AiS, 1 halfbred c-we 7Jd, 2 crossbred do 7d ; AM, 1 eros-bred 7i'l ; T5 in led, 1 do hogget 7d, 7 do" ewe 7Jd ; B Heart, 2 (1 do hogget, 1 do and ewe), 7il, 2 (I ci-Dssbred weth'r, 1 So and ewe) 7d, 10 ctosbbred ewe 7d ; TJ, 4 do hogget 7* l , 8 line do> twe 7£d, 1 cr.ossl red ewe 7d ; S, 4 do wether 7d ; W Ja, Bdo ewe 7id, 4do hogget 7d ; f S, 3 crossbred^ 7J>l ; Djn circle, 2 halfbrel ewe 7J3, 3 crossbred* Ido7d -, X over T, 11 halfbred BJI, I piece 3 sd.

Sydney, December 22. , The wool sales closed to-day. During the half-year 308 000 bales havo been sold compared with 276,000 for the corresponding half of last year. ClosiDg pricea were firm, and the recent improvement in all good wools was well maintained.

•uscnpi ;ion. iiiperior iOOi .eil mm ferior. ffalfbred (fine) ... aalfbred ... "■rossbred ... Chree-quar-terbredand Longwool. \lirino Pieces d. A. 84 to 83 7i n Si 7i i. 7f d. d. 72 to 81 7i - 7J 6J .. 7 d. d. 7 ti 7i 6J- .. 7 6 .. 61 d. d. fii to 6i 6 .. 6i 51 .. 5J 61 i. 7i 8 .i Si 5| .. Ci 6J v 6V 7 v 75 5 .- 5i 52 v 6 64 .. 6J 4V" 4| 5 n Si I 4:;I 4 :; S

Description.) on. iiiperior. rOOI lUIB k l»v; - GreasyHalf bred .. (irossbred . Longwool . Merino Fit ess Bellies ... Locks d. d 8 to 83 7§ .. 81 7 .. 74 7i .. Si 5 ii 6J 4J .. 5 d. - d. 7 to 73 7 » 7^ 61 .. 6} ()J ii 71 4i ii 43 3* i. 41 2i£ v 3 .1. d 6 to 63 G >. 6} () •• (ii (j ii 6A 3} .. 4" 3 .. 3i a » 2* d. d. 1 to 5| 5i m 51 •^ .. 6 31 ii (i 3 m Si a .. 3 Ii i. 2 i — I

Descript'on. ISuperior. Good. Medium. Inferior. d d. d. d. 54 to 6 5 to 5J 5" ii 6 U ii 5 5 ii 5} 4' .. 5 31 ii 4 2J n 3J Gre»sy — Halfbred .. Ciotsbred... Merino Pieces, b'll't. \. d. / J to 8J 7i ii 7} 7 .. 74 51 .. C" d. d. 'Vt to 72 •5 - 7i t « 5 i