THE WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2560, 8 April 1903, Page 19

THE WOOL SALES.

The third wool sale of the season wps held ] A yesterday at the Agricultural Hall, when 711 bales were ofiered. The following are ths re- £ ports of the selling brokers: — ' The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile ] Agency Company (Limited) report having held { their last wool sale of the season at the Agricul- ] tural Hall on Friday, when" they offered 450 ' bales of wool to a tull gathering of buyers. As may be imagined, the general average of the | quality offered at this series was not up to - what was offered at the previous sales. There ( were, however, some good wools submitted. Among the fine, Mr Donald M'Leod's, of " Camard," Kingston, brought, ns usup], a good price, the first and second combing of ] which making 9Jd. In accordance with the riso j in finer sorts experienced during the second i series of the London sale 3 (which opened on 1 March 10 ultimo), prices were very appreciably J better than on the occasion of the last wool < sale held here on the 27th February. On fine i wools, prices were better by quite id per 1b; i while even crossbred of coarser grade — say 40' s — showed an improvement. All pieces and bellies were keenly competed for, and sold as i well, if not better, than at any previous sale. Merino, per their catalogue, sold to 91d, half- < bred to 7Jd, fine crossbred to 7d, coarse do : (40's) to 6d, 36' s to sd ; pieces (fine) to 6Jd, coarse to fd, merino do to 8d; and belhe3 (merino) to Gd, crossbred to 4d. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. report as follows- —We held our third sale of the season on ]<iiday, when we submitted a catalogue ot 103 bale? and 52 bags of wool. There was a large muster of local buyers, and also several from Christchurch, Mi 'ton, and other centres. Prices, on the whole, were rather higher than those ruling at our last auction, but the bidding was erratic, and in a few instances scarcely reached the (equivalent of values at previous auctions. This, of course, was only to be expected, considering thst the bulk of cur catalogue consisted of straggler wool and oddments, a groat number of the lots being seedy and ferny. We quote as follows: — Best merinos, from 8d to 9Jd; medium, 7d to "2<i , seeJy and inferior, 5d to CJd ; best halfbrrds, 7d to 8d ; medium, 6d to 6id; seedy and inferior, 4Jd to sid ; best erossbreds, 5Jd to 6UI , medium, 4Jd to 5Jd; seedy and inferior. •Jid to 3Jd ; pieces and bellies, at from l«d to 4cl , locks, Id to 2id, according to staple and condition. Messrs Donald Reid and Co. (Limited) report — There was a fair attendance of buyer? at the wool sale held on Friday. There was only a sni?ll entry of woo!, the total number of bales catalogued by the \arious selling brokers being 711. There was very spirited bidding throughout, and prices on the whole were quite on a par and in some cases showed an advance on those ruling at the last sale. We catalogued 52 bales, chiefly 'ate eiioni clips, piece.?, and oddments, which were cleared under brisk competition at the following prices: — Merino wool, up to BJd per lb ; crossbred, up to CJd ; pieces, locks, and oddments selling at full \aluc. I Messrs Stronach Bros, aid Morris report ' having held their third sale of the season at . the Afrnciiltura 1 H*ll Buildmg3 on Friday, j 3rd n:st. Although the offering altogether w.is j a small one, the usual buyer? at Bunedin sales , were mostly repiesented, and prices obtained were very satisfactory. It was anticipated that any mer<no wools submitted v. culd find buves | at an advance on recent rates, as cab'es from ' London h.»\e reported an improvement in that market, aid this was fully confirmed local!} , in ar.y small lots of merino submitted. Ihs nner crossbred and ha fbreds told a* pices , in advance cf those obipining at lat; s-»le3 also ' In strong erossbreds, although a downward j n.ove was expected, we cannot say that such I was expenenced. The offering'; certainly were J rnly on a small scale, but the close of the Dunedin sales, ps evidenced by values obtained, mdicat' s a gooc 1 . sound market and sati-iacto:y prices for all grade. Our catalogi p ccnlai'ird nnthirg c'ic cc, ai.d therefoie \\e have no very higli picos to report. For mem o we obtained B{d , haifbrcd, 7J'l , crcssbied, CM. | Messrs Dalgety and Company (Limited) re-

port as follows: — We held our third sale for this season at the Agricultural Hall on Friday, when we offered a catalogue comprising 153 bales and 47 bags, of which we sold 127 bales and 47 bag 3, which, together with 165 balea J sold privately, since last sale, makes our totaH since last reporting 292 bales. There was » fair representation of the trade present, and tha demand for all classes of wool was good. Crossbreds and halfbreds were particularly well 1 competed for, and showed an advance of Jd to Jd per 1b on -last sale's values. Our catalogue was comprised for the greater part of stragglers*' wool and oddments^ so that we have no higlf pricos to report. DUNKDIN MARKETS. WHOLESALE PRODUCE REPORTS. Mr J. Fleming, Princes street south, reports under date the 7th inßfc. .•— Wheat per bushel. per ton Best milling ... 4/3 Barley dust ... 150/0 Medium do 4/o—4/2 Oatmeal, in 25"s 240/0 Fowls' ... 3/10-4/0 Oaten chaff 60/o— 7o/0 Willing oat 3 1/8-1/11 Ityegrass hay tO/0-65/0 Feed oats 1/B— l/9 Straw ..*. ... 35/o Malt barley ... 4/0 Pcavl barley ... 280/0 Feed barley 3/o—3/3 Onions ... ~ 6/o'civfc Cape bailey ... 4/3 per lb. Maize... ... 5 0 Rolled bacon ... 9X per ton. Sidcittcon ... 9d flour, in 200"s ... 200/0 Smoked hams ... lOd Flour, in 50% ...215/0 Cheese .. sjd— s3d Pollard 120/0 Good salt hutter, 7d to Bran 90/0 Ba, according to ' quality .Potatoes : Scorce— £3 to £3 10s. Derwentsare tCATce ; hardly fit to keep at pretent. hARJI AND DAIRY PRODUCE. Mjes'sis Irvine »nd Stevenson, Geoiga street, report paying for produce during the week eudine tlie7tb-in»t. as follows :— Bacon (roll), 9d p. lb Fresh butter, 9d to Ham, 9d p. lb lid per lb Fresh egjs, Is 5J dcz Salt butter ; notbuying Fresh butter, good ordinary (in lib and Jib prints), 7d to "9d per lb. Pigs, 1301b to 1701b, 5d per lb. L'ucts, Geese, Turkeys, Fowls : Not buvir.g. THE FROZEN MEAT MARKET. NAPIER, April 2. The Coloninl Consignment and Distributing Company cabled 10-day:— "A further fall of one-eighth of a. penny is reported for both qualities of lamb. Quotations: Canterbury mutton, 4ld; Napier, Wellington, and North Island, Sgd. Lamb— first quality 5Jd, second old." THE AGENT-GENEEAL'S REPORT. WELLINGTON, April 6. Ihe following cable has been received from the Agent-general, dated London, 4th inst.- — The frozen mutton market is firm. The shipments of mutton now arriving- are very heavy. River Plate mutton is in small supoly. The average price to-day was: Canterbury mutton 4Jd; Dunedin, Southland, and W.M.E. Co 4|d; other North Island muttcn, 3gd; River Plate mutton, 3Jd. There is a good demand for all lamb, and an indication to force sales. Ihe average price to-day is: New Zealand lamb (Canterbury brand), ,sgd; New Zealand lamb (brands other than Canterbury), sgd; River Plate lamb, sd. There has been-no alteration m the beef market since last weelr. The butter market is dull and very unsettled!; The price of butter to-day is 101s pcr v cwt; ; Argentine, 100s ; Danish prices declined by 10a during the last fortnight. There is no alteration in ihs cheese market since last week. The hemp market j s "steady 'but quiet. Prices: "Good -fair Wellington" grade— On spot to-day, £32 10s; April shipments, £29; May and June shipments, £27 10s The stock is 448 tons, against 377 tons last year. The cocksfoot seed market is dull, and buyers arc not keen to do business in cocksfoot seed', The average price to-day is : New Zealand 171b standard, 57s per cwt. GRAIN AND PRODUCE SALES. Messrs Donald Reid and Co. (Limited) report:— Wo held our weekly auction sale of grain and produce at our stores on Monday, when we submitted a representative catalogue to a good attendance of buyers. Most of tha lots on offer were well competed for at prices on a par with late quotations, the only noticeable drop in values being for potatoes. Prices ruled as under: — Oats.— There is fair inquiry for prime milling Sutherlands and Gartons. Good to best feed, huitable for export, ia also in steady demand, but shippers evince little disposition to purchase at prices beyond the equivalent at northern ports. Wo quote: Prime milling, Is 9d to Is lOd; good to best feed, Is 7d to Is B*d ; inferior and medium, Is 5d 'x> Is 6d per bushel (sacks extr»). Wheat.— During the past week millers' operations have been somewhat restricted, owing largely to the uncertainty prevailing with regard to the prospective price of flour Prime to choice lines of milling quality have, however, been readily placed at quotations. Medium quality has not the same attention, but is readily quitted as fowl wheat, for which prices are a little below those ruling for milling quality. We quote. Prime milling, 4s 2d tt» is 4d ; best whole fowl wheat, 4s to 43 Id ; broken and damaged, 3s 3d to 3a lOd per bushel (sacks extra). Potatoes. — The market is again well supplied, consignments having come forward steadily, chiefly from Oamaru-and Taieri. In consequence of the full supply forward prices suffered a decline of 15s to 20s per ton. Wo quote : Best sorts, £3 103 to £3 15s ;' medium to good, £3 to £3 ss; inferior and stale, £2 5s to £2 15s per ton (bags in). Chaff. — Local stocks have been steadily workir.g off, and in the absence of heavy consignments values are fairly well maintained. Most of the old chaff on hand is of only medium, quality, and preference is given to prime bright, heavy, new chaff. We qwote: Prime oaten sheaf, £3 5s to £3 32s 6d ; choice, to £3 15s; medium to good, £2 15s to £3; inferior, £2 to £2 10s per ton (bags extra). Dalgety and Co. (Limited), Dunedin, report: We held our usual weekly auction Eale of grain and produce ?t our stoiej on Monday. Ther« was a gcod attendance of buyers, and we °übmitted a fulT representative catalogue. Bidding for all lines was brisk, and the whole 0! oui catalogue wbs cleared at price 3 well up to, and in some instances over, our last week's quotation?. Puces ruled as under. — Oats.— Owing to the unfavourable weather only a few edd consignments of new oat 3 have cone to hand, and these have met with a fair rleinaiid fci shipment and local consumption. The bulk of the business in shipping, however, is °*ill going to the northern ports, merchants being able to buy cheaper than here, and excapfc for an occasional line for immediate delivery, will oily buy here at prices on a par with. Can'crbvry values. We quote: Prime milling. Is 9cl to Is lOd; good to best feed, Is 7d to-ls S^d; inferior to good, 1? 5d to li 6UI (sacks e.itra). Whtat.— Up to the present southern whea.'. is r.ot offering in any quantity. The bulk o?. the Ime3 ready for the market have been bough's up by cour.try mil'ers. Millers here are onhbuymg sparingly, and faimers are not preparec/ to reduc their prices 1o meet millers' ideps o* value. Quotations Prime miihng, 4s 2d let 4s 4d , fowl wheat, 4s to 4s Id (sacks extra). Potatoes. — There was a fair quantity offeree?^ and prices buffered 9 drop of from 10s to 15a Ox

clearing rates of last week. Prime kidneys, £3 10s to £3 15s (sacks in).

Chaff. — The bad weather last week had the effect of stopping consignments, and pr.me oaten sheaf is scarce acd in. good demand. Prices realised were a shade short of last ■week's quotations. Medium quality chaff is still in good supply, and demnud is only moderate. We quote Prime oaten sheaf, JE3 5s to £3 12s 6d ; extra prime, £3 15s , medium to good, £2 10s to £3 (sacks extra). HIDE SALES. Messrs Wright Stephenson. and Co. report as follows. — We held our fortnightly sale on Thursday, when we offered a very large catalogue of hides to a representative gathering of the trade. Our offerings yesterday totalled 548 hides, comprising 344 ox, 158 cow, 19 calfskins, and 6 yearhr.gs, which constitutes a record for Dunedin, our previous record for a single auction being 5-17 hides, offered by us ou the 30th October last. The bulk of the hides forward for the sale were carefully flayed and in good condition, and the prices throughout must be very gratifying to our clients. We are glad to be able to report that cur hide business ' still continues to increase, a. fact which goes to prove that our method or^xposing the hides for sale, together with careful handling and suiting, is being appreciated both by our clients and the firms interested in the trade. Besides forming a record in the number of hides offered, we again broke our previous record for New Zealand of 9Jd per lb by selling one lo: of four, extra stout, 731b ok hides at 9Jd per !b. or a, return to the vendor of £1 13s 3d per hide. We also formed a recofd in cow hides by selling two extra stout 621b hides at 6d peT lb. Thursday's catalogue cortained a large number of extra prime lots of ox hides, and these met with keen competition at fully up to late ruling rates. Other sorts were also very firm on a par with last sale's prices. It may bs of interest to quote a few of the individual sales: — Ox: Four 731b, 9Jd ; three 69ib, 7Jd; two GDlb, 7Jd; five 731b, 7Jd ; two 6Sib, 7Jd, two Glib, 7&d; two 64ib, 7d; one 661b, 7d; one G4lb, 6^d ; 14 65ib, 6|d ; two 661b. GJd ; one 661b, 6Jd ; lour 601b, 6Jd , eight 611b, 6Jd , 'two 631b, 6gd, two 641b, 6£d; one 611b, 6£d; one 60!b, 6Jd ; eight 651b, &\d ; four 63!b, 6Jd ; I three 641b, 6Jd ; one 60lb, 6 J ,d; two 641b, 6^d ; I two 65ib, 6Jd; five 6'2!b, 6|d ; on 2 60'b, 6J J ; one 641b, 6*d ; four GOlb, GJd ; four 631b, 6Jd ; 17 601b, 6d; five 621b, 6d. Cow: Two 62!b, 6d ; four 611b, 5-d; one 671b, s£d ; one 56".b, sid; 1 five 611b, sd; 10 53'b, 4Jd ; one 521b, 4Jd ; one 521b, 4gd. We quote: Extra stout, well-flayed ox, 7Jd to 8d per lb; heavy do. 6d to GJd ; medium do, 5Jd to GJd ; light do, 4d to 4|d; extra stout, well-flayed cow, 5d to 5Jd ; medium do v 4gd to 4Jd; light, 3}d to 4Jd ; yearlings. 2kl to 3Jd pei lb; calfskins, Is 2d to 3? 8d each. Messrs Stronach Bros, and Morris report as follows — We held our fortnightly auction sale of h'.des at our stores, Crawford stieet, on Thursday, 2nd inst., when there wes piescnt a representative gathering of buyeis. Our catalogue was small this week, comprising 101 hides; and th:s is to be legrctted. as prices were again most satisfactory, and all offered met with very keen competition at values on a par with those ruling a fortnight ago. Medium-weight hides again commanded relatively the highest prices, and one line of four cows', averaging 461b, was sold at 4Jd — a remarkably good return for hides of this weight. We had no prime heavy ox h.des forward, and our top price was 6id for two averaging 631b, while in cows' our top price wps sid for two weighing 551b. Calfskins and year'dngs' were very keenly competed for, and brought an advance on last quotations. Actual prices paid at our sale were aa follows: — Medium to good ox hides, 5d to 6Jd ; light and inferior do, 3^d to 4Jd ; medium, to good cow h'des, 4Jd to 5Jd, light and infenor do, 2Jd to 4Jd , yeaihngs, 5s 8d to 6s 2d ; calfsk.us. Is 4d to 4s Id. Messrs A. Moritzson and Co. report as follows.—We held our usual fortnightly sale on Thursday, when we offered a fadr catalogue of hides to a large attendance of buyeis. Competition was keen for all sorts, particulars-light-weights, and prices ruled equivalent to those of the last sale. We had nolhirg veiy choice in our cata'ogue, which was msde up principally of countiy hides. We quote as fol- ] ows —Prime stout ox hide?, 6d to 7d ; medium to good, 5d to 5Jd; light and inferior, 3>,d to 4 jd ; pume heavy cows, 4Jd to sid , medium to good, 4£d to 4Jd; light and mfer.or, 3id to 4d; calfskins, Is to 2s each. SALE OF LAND ON CASTLEROCK Measrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. report having sold to Mr George Johnston, of Lunisden, allotment 5, Castierock Estate Survey, containing 224 acres 1 rood good agricultural la-id. Inquiries for land on Castierock are now betonung very numerous, ard other sales aie pending. All tho«e inspecting the property admit that the land is being offered at reasonable pnce= The land is being =old at piactically the Government land tax valuations;. It is not often that land of such good quality and in such a fine position is obtainable at such low values and upon such easy te:ms. and those thinking of buying land should not lo=e this opportunity. WAI MATE COUNTY SALE YARDS. Messrs Guinne-s and LeCren (Limited) report that at the Waimate Com t\ yards, on Friday there was an entry of some 5000 sheep, and a good attendance o'. farmers, all of whom were buyers. Tho sale was a hca thy one throughout, the number of cwe= entered i.ot being sufficient to meet farmers' requirements All ewes sold well up to late rates, and in several cases the prices were slightly firmer than at late salea. breeders recognising tint they must obtain their ewes as scon as posible as the season is getting late. Three lots of fat sheep and lambs wcrp yarded, and the prices lea.ised were so satisfactory that the owners intend again disposing of their fat stock in this way. It was apparent that competition v.as responsible for the prices retained, winch were slightly in advance of those ruling in private gales. Prices were as follows — Fat wethers (light-weights), 16s 6d , fat lambs, 13s lid to 13s 9d, fat ewes (butchers' soits), fiom 10s 2d to lls 9d , four-tooth three quarterbred ewes, 16s, two, four, and six-tooth do, 13s lid, four, six, ai.d full-mouthed haUbrcd and thiee-quarterbred ewes, from 14s 9d to 12s 7a, fu'l-iuouthecl ewes. 13s to 8s Cd , c v 1 lambs, 5. lid to 4^ lOd, iv snull pen of old ewes, 5s 3d. DUXEDIX HORSE SALEYARDS. Messrs Wight, S»ephen = on, and Co. report as fol'owi -Xeaih 70 hor-es were enteic-d for our s»!e l.i-t Saturday, the number being composed, a'most witho.it excep* ion, of light harness hoi=o= and hack*. Although there were numeioi',l buyers for^fiisl-clasi draught horses 1-iesert at the sale, no, animals suitable for their lequuements wore to be found in the yard. Those in quest ofhght horses were, howex er, more fortuntr.e in that they were able to choose from a large entry such horses as were to then liking. A consignment of light harness horses from the North Island, comprising 14 amma's belonging to Messrs Finlay and Co., of Feiidmg, met with a eood deal of attention fiom would-be purchasers, and. under food competition, most of the horses changed hands | at from up to £17 to £21 10=. A'.othei consignment from Blackstoae Hal Station, the jz-oputi ox Mtadid I'vOiS aud, Ciieadnnna, was

forward at the auction, and nil the light toTses in tlr.s lot were disposed of at up to £26. A turn-out, consisting of two horses, laudau, and harness, belonging to a gentleman shortly leaving the colony, was sold at- an extremely satisfactory price. A seven-year-old milk-cart gelding realised £25 10s, and about 15 other lighter horses changed hands at prices ranging up to £22. The Dunedin market is at present full of buyers in want of first-class young horses cf all classes^ and vendors of such stock can be strongly advised to forward their horses to thrs city lor one of our sales, where we are positive they will not ba disappointed with the prices realised. We quote- Superior young draught geldiugs, £50 to £55 ; extra good, prize horses, £56 to £60 ; medium draught mares and geldings, £37 to £4&J aged do, £24 to £36; upstanding carriage horses, £30 to £35; well-matched carriage pair-, £70 to £90; strong spring-van horses, £30 to £38^ milk-cart and butchers' order-cart horses, £24 to £30 ; tram hoxsas, £14 to £21 ; light hacks. £10 to £16 , extra good hacks^±lB to £25 ; weedy and aged hacks and harness horses, £5 to £10. PROPERTY SALES. Messrs Wright, Steph-jnson, and Co. report having held, at Inverc3rgill on Saturday, in conjunction w:'Ji Messrs J. R. Mills and Son, of Riverton, a sa.!e of farms in the Western District of Southland, on account of Messrs Y'hittington Bros. The first lot offered was Snringbank Farm, Thombury, being sections IS, 1?, and 20, block VII. Jacob's R-ver Hundred, containing 225 acres, more or less, and thi? was knocked down to Mr Matthew Fallow, of Kivcrton, at £10 per r.cre. Lot 2, being education leasehold section 56, block VII. Jacobis Jtiver Hundred, and lot 3, known as Woodcote Farm, were withdrawn from sale, the vendors' reserves not being bid, and are vow open for saJe by private treaty. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. report, having sold privately, on account of Mr James Eaton, Benmore, at a satisfactory price, his farm, being section 10, Benmore Estate, containing about 116 acres, to Mr George Mathieson, Benmore. THE LABOUR MARKET. John Skene and Son report under date April 7 as follows —Still the rush continues for good all-round harvester", men capable of leading-in and forking. A few threshing-null hands have gone out, but the demand for those will come a little later. First-class ploughmon are easily placed, good wages ai>d permanent billets being offered. Milkers are in good demand; also capable trappers and lads to as3ist trappers; also placing flax-mill hands and cutters daily. We are also offering Al situations to married coup'.cs for farms on splendid terms. We quote wages —Harvesters, 9d to lOd per hour, others, at 25s and 30s; threahing-mill hands, 9d per hour; farm couples, £75 to £85; ploughmen, 22s 6d to 25«; milkers, 17s 6d to 20s; flax-mill hands, 20s and found; cutters, 4s to 5s per ton; hotel grooms, etc., 15s to 20s; camp cook«. 2Gs to 255, blacksmiths, 30s; trappcis" assistants, 15s.