COMMERCIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2300, 31 March 1898, Page 30

COMMERCIAL.

j At the Belfast Freezing Works last week a new ! record was established in the number of stock put [ through. No less than 28,416 bheep and lambs | were slaughtered, and of these 23,6'fi0 were frozen, ; and the balance preserved or boiled down. The heaviest d*y's wo tic was Tuesday, when the tally ■ was 5112 haad slaughtered. The wages stateir.«;r' <- | for the week amounted to.no leas than £1132. | THE ADDINGTON STOCK MAKKK ? j Christchurch, March ..> | There were very large yardiugs in all dep o . ■■ mtuts at the Addington live stock market, : v ' the attendance was unusually large. The eutrt' for the d.<y comprised 19 816 sheep and lam. | 361 head of rattle, and 514 pigs i F-it, Ctttlf.— Th« 203 head whicb formed the week's supply of bsef were for the most part \ light-weight s-eers, with a few really prime steers i and hftiffir<( Competition throughout was very | poor, and the sale was a very dragging one, and > anything at all inferior was hard to quit. The rates ruling last week were barely maintained. Prime steeis M-ought £7 to £7 12s 6i : inferior to ordinary do, £3 to £f? ; prime heifers, £6 10s to £8 j2s6d ; inferior to ordinary do. £3 to £6 : cows, i from £*! to £4 2* 6i. , Fat. Sheep — fbe yarding accommodation was j taxed to the utmost with fat sheep,' the bulk \ being eood butchtivi' ewes with a fair sprinkling ! of half bre«s. Anything fit for freezing about held I its own, but the market for anything that was. : unfinished and ewe muttou was most irregular, ; an y thing not really good quality meeting a dragglug s.-le An exhibition c jnsignment of Mr Gar- ' for ill's s-heep met with keen competition from local buxhers. A pen of Southdown cross withers realised 21s 6d and another ISs 6d ; pure- ! bred Downs fetched 14s 61 to 15s; best crossbred ■ wethers brought from 12s to 13s 7d ; good do, 10s to 11* 6a and backward do down to 9s; wethers i aii't miiden ewes, lls lud to 12s °f* ; maiden ewes, I Jh to Us 7d ; and a line of Shropshire Down cross i (from the Achray estate), lls lid ; bent crossbred • ewes, 1i to 8s 6d ; me'iiMta do £v to (h 6d ; aw aged and inferior from 23 9d to 4s 6d ; iale s>k 1 merino we- hers, 2i. Fat lambs were morn in evidence than of late, but the bulk was inside up of unfinished sorts, a greaf; many of which should have be«n in the ! store pens. The only sorts which met competition ' were linus quite fib for export, and buyers of this '. cliss shewed a de ermination not to bid for anything u^t quite up to concert pitch. All other I kinds were neg'ected, and bujers for toppiug-off - were not --.iicfa in evidence owing So the scarcity < of feed. Feeding l&inbsj & to 10s 9.1. and up to lls i 3d for extra g»iod lines: medsuna sorts for trade I purposes ruled at from 6- to Ss 61 ; and backward sorts 3s to 5s 60. I'igs.— TJieie wa<j again a heavy yarding, including some very well finished lines of fats Baconers •, and porkers wer-; exc<!f d:Kgiy v/ell competed for, ' and last week's r?t<;3 were fulty 'uphelii, aud in some inslaccas cxeeeiJ^d, fc'ie average price per .1b being 4Jd. Good, forward stores were al.->o iv ' fleman 1 "! but backward sorts ami small pigs were not so much fOiight after. Prces per he*d wre':— TJjconers, from 35i to 62-i ; pirkord, 25s to 33.' ; stores, 20s to 35s ; flins. 63 tid to 20s. j . S..