INVERCARGILL PRODUCE AND STOCK MARKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 22

INVERCARGILL PRODUCE AND STOCK MARKET.

(Frois. Oue, O-wn Correspondent.) JNVEECARUILI/, June 19. During the week there has been a little more business in tho oat market, s^ eral sales having been made to West Australia. Prices, hovever, remain the same as tlffcy were a week ago. The Warimoo, which left for Sydm y last week, took 300 tons of B grade, which formed part of a sale of 600 lons made to go to Sydney for transhipment to the East ai a price netting Is 6d (f.0.b., s.i.) This sale had to be guaranteed first class B grade, and had also to carry the Government grader's certificate. No business to speak of has yet been, done with Africa, though the inquiry from, there still keeps up, but it is understood that; a fair-sized order has been placed in Canterbury fcr oils similar to our B grade at about jls 6d (f o b.). Xo doubt as long ns oats aie i plentiful m Canteibury the bulic of the bus*j ness will go there, a.< 3it can always La I reckoned on that their oats will turn rmt weii j, at the other end. There were shipmen+s during f the week amounting to about 3000 bag=, the j bulk of which went to "West Australia. The i Ganymede has completed her loading., and I will leave to-day or to-morrow direct for Auck- [ land with about 9000 bags. The inouiry for I really good quality still keeps up, and" A grade I have been sod to that market as high a3 la I3d (f.0.b., s.i.). Any decent lines of sesd oats | offering at present are readily sold to the North. i Island at from Is 7d to Is 8d (f.o b , s.i.) Very I few oats are now coming forward from tho country, and the bulk of the threshed oats are now in store. Parmers are still disinclined to sell at present \alues, bixt meanwhile I accounts for storage are piling up, and in many I etises tho three month? for whi;h Id per saciz [ etorage is charged will have elapsed, and. farmers v.ill rather sell than enter on another 1 period of storage. I understand there has been a stock-takit.g at the various stores at the Bluff, and it is found that the total quantihon hand is about 300,000 sacks. Of these aboufe 30,000 sacks are A grade, 70,000 B grade, and! the balance C grade or poor iualn:ss. It will be seen from these figures that it would no', take a veiy laige older to clear out the besc part of the B grade, and when it is remembered that a large quantity of these oats will require to be dressed and sold locally for seed there will be very little to spare till tho spring threshing starts. However, there is no great danger of a large order coming our way, ys apparently Canterbury is not short, and South Africa is still taking Algerians from the Melbourne market.

| 'Ihough ihe local niraket is being rather oversupplied with chaff there i<3 a fairly gooJ, demand from Auckland, and the Ganymede i>s taking a laige quantity for that market, and more will be going by the Havrea on its next trip. Merchants are offering- from £1 15s to £2 o:i trucks, but the quality must be good. So far as the local hade is coneerred the adjacent districts are able to supply the demand. The prices at present range from £'Z to £2 5s delivered in town. There appeals to bo a lot of inferior stuff about this year, tho price for which has fallen in sympathy 'with oats. There is nothing fresh to report about other produce. Wheat is dull of sal?, and, aa flour is on the drop, millers are not inclined to buy with so much cheap oats about. Fowl wheat is a drug on the market. Barley stilt ilnds a- ready sale at prices quoted last week but very little is offering locally. Ryegrass is still booming, an-1 the inquiry from the North Island is greater than tho local merchants can meet. Canterbury and the North Island appear to be very short, and very desirous of drawing supplies from Southland, but, as before leported, our local merchnnts have only sufficient for their era requirements, and must hod on no matter how prices may go. Sheep remain unchanged since mv hist ieport, but fat lambs are getting very s^aice, and those who have them still to s-rl! are kke'y to reap tlie benefit of tkeir foietLcuulit l^iwe

long. I hear of a very fine line of lambs having been purchased on behalf of the Southland Frozen Meat Company from Mr W. Fleming, of Rakahouka, at the very high price of 19s each. It is understood that these killed out exceptionally well, some of them weighing from 701b to 821b. Several very fine lines of lambs have been going through the works lately, one particularly good lot having gone forward from Mr Peter Laing, of Dipton. There are several buyers scouring the country ior lamba, and at present London prices it ■would appear as if from 14a 6d to 15s was about tbe value for ordinary fat lenibs. Young ewes are still in demand, and prices as quoted last "week, from 20s to 21s 6d, are 1 readily got. I iiear of a line of four-tooth ewes having been Bold at Winton at 20s 6d.

Fat cattle are still very dull of sale, and holders are all complaining that they can't get any away at pri3es that wiU pay them. It seems very strange that with sheep at such a price fat cattle should be so dull, but the opinion is general that in the course of a month or two there will be more inquiry. The principal causes of t-he present state of the cattle market are, I think, to be found in the fact that there has been no freezing for export this year, and that tbe high price of sheep is driving the butohers into buying a poor quality of beef.