THE BREADSTUFFS AND PRODUCE MARKETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3312, 5 September 1917, Page 16

THE BREADSTUFFS AND PRODUCE MARKETS.

Friday evening. There is a continued absence of offerings of wheat in the local market. It is stated, nevertheless, that eomo farmers are still holding lines, presumably with the idea that the Government may advance the current fixed rates. Two of the local mills have closed down in consequence of the inability to obtain supplies. Another local miller has enough to keep him going for about a month, and another for about three months. There does not, however, appear to be any likelihood of a shortage of flour, as one Dunodin miller has several hunched tons in stock, and millers in the Ashburton and Oamaru districts continue to offer flour at £ls per ton, and are prepared to take orders at that price up till next March. Fowl wheat le quoted at 6s 3d, delivered at Dunedin.

Oatmeal is quoted at £2l a ton for 25's; pearl barley, £2O 10s; pollard, £7 10s (fixed by Government); bran, £4 5s (fixed by Government). Inquiries for grade oats have been received during the week from the North Island. B Gartons have been sold at 4s f.o.b., s.i., prompt shipment. Feea oats are also in good demand, and average quality can be disposed of at 4s fto.b., s.i. There is a feeling of uncertainty about the market, the present firmness depending on the length of the Australian etrike, and for this reason merchants are holding light stocks. PRODUCE REPORT. Consignments of chaff are now arriving Ereely, but there is a good demand, most of the feeders being short of supplies. Good quality is selling at £6 ss, but lower prices are expected, as cutting is expected to be general in the south during the next few weeks. Canterbury chaff has been arriving in fair quantities, and this will also tend to weaken the market. The market is bare of stocks of wheaten and oaten straw, and prices are more or less nominal in view of the absence of supplies. Northern supplies of potatoes continue to rule the local market, and sales have been made during the week at £3 10s to £4 delivered Dunedin. There have been some shipping inquiries during the week, and merchants are of the opinion that prices are now at their bed rock. Auckland is reported to be bare of stocks, and if a demand comes in from there prices may harden. The winter season in Otago has been very mild, however, and on present prospects new potatoes should be early on the market this year. Onions are now getting into short supply. The etrike in Australia is preventing further stocks from coming forward. Eggs are in full supply. All lots meet with a fairly good demand. Stocks of dairy and milled butter are becoming very short. Bacon is in short supply. There is a keen inquiry for this commodity. Current wholesale prices are as follow:

Chaff. —Prime oaten sheaf, £6 to £6 ss; medium to good, £4 10s to £5 10s (sacks extra).

Straw. —Oaten, £3 5s to £3 10s; wheaten, £2 10s to £2 15s.

Prime clover hay, £5 10s to £5 15s. Potatoes. —Prime lines, £4 per ton (sacks in); medium to good are unquotable. Melbourne onions, 20s per cWt. Eggs.—Cased, Is 2d; stamped, Is 3d.' Butter.—Milled bulk, Is 3d per lb; dairy and separator, in lib packages, to Is -3d. Honey—Bulk, 6d; 101 b tins 5s 6d; 21b pottles, 15s to 16s a dozen; 21b tins, 15s. Pigs.—Baconere, 7£d to 8d per lb; porkers, to 9d. Bacon. —Rolls, local, Is 2d; Christchurch, Is 2d; sides, la Id; hams, Is 2d; ham rolls, le 3d. FRUIT REPORT. Business has been quiet in the fpflit market during the week. A few lines of apples are arriving from Canterbury, mostly out of cool store, and these meet with a good demand. Owing to the strike in Australia there are no citrus fruits available from that quarter, and there is no fruit of that description left in the wholesale marts. A shipment of bananas was landed last Saturday. These brought from 12s to 14s per case. The Monowai brought a cargo of lemons and Poorman oranges from Auckland. In the absence of Australian citrus fruits, these met with a very good demand. A few cases of Rarotongan-grown tomatoes were sold during the week at up to Is 3d per lb. Cauliflowers are the chief vegetable available. These have been sold under the hammer at the extreme rate of Is and over per head for choice. Cabbages are practically off the market in the meantime. A few lots sold during the week brought about 7s 6d per dozen. The following are the current wholesale prices: Apples.—Otago Central: Dessert, 3£d to 4gd; cooking, to 3d. Canterbury: Lord Wolseleys, to 10s 6d; dessert, lis to 12s. Lemons.—Aucklands only available; lis to 14s.

Oranges. —Poorman, for marmalade, 13s to 14s.

Pears. —Cooking, 2£d to 3d. Walnuts, 9£d to 10£d. Cucumbers, to 12s per dozen. Raratongan tomatoes, to Is 3d per lb. Cabbages. —Good to 7s 6d per dozen; inferior, Is to Is 6d per sack. Cauliflowers: Best, 10s to 12s per sack; medium, 8s to 9s; inferior, 2s to 4s. Lettuce, Is to Is 6d per dozen. Parsnips, 3s 6d to 4a per cental j sacks, to 7s; case 3. to 3s 6d. Carrots. 8s to 9s per cental; sacks, to 6s. Beetroot, Is 6d per dozen. Spring onions, la per dozen bunches. Radish, Is per dozen. Swedes, 4s per sack; 2a. to 2a 3d for cental bags.

Potatoes.—Taiori-grown, in sack lots, 5» per cwt for choice; poor and medium, 4b to 4s 6d. MERCHANDISE MARKET. Advice_ has been received of a further increaso in the price of Column's mustard. Seeded and seedless raisins are scarce, and urm in price. All brands of MT,eod's soaps have been advanced in price by £2 per ton. The manufacturers are experiencing great difficulty in securing supplies of the raw material. Although quotations have been received for the new season's salmon, and orders from Dunedin have been sent on, shippers are experiencing great difficulty in getting the freight. The Government Statistician has' requested all dealers in kerosene, benzine, and other similar oils to supply him with th© quantity of their stocks as at August 31. Condy's fluid is quoted at 19s 6d per dozen. Wilson's malt extract is quoted at 303 for large and 17s 6d for small. Owing to the non-arrival of a steamer which was diverted to another port, supplies of clothes lines are very short. Merchants are now delivering single box lots. Prices are variously given as 6s 6d, 6s 9d, 7s, and 7s 6d per hox —a rather wide margin for quotations. Sheet gelatine shows an increased cost. C. and B. anchovy sauce is now worth 17s to 17s 6d per dozen. A line of Holbrook's sauce has been landed, and is quoted at 14s 6d per dozen. Cheese is scarce, and is quoted at lid per lb. Sago is very scarce. Merchants are asking up to 36s per cwt for existing stocks, but one merchant is quoting 2s less per cwt. Owing to the strike in Australia transhipments from there are hold up, and th© next opportunity of securing supplies will be from the direct boat to Dunedin—that is, of course, if the strike continues. Kofood's sauce has been advanced 6d per dozen. Cream of tartar is. quoted at 2s lOd and 3s per lb. Merchants are eagerly awaiting a shipment of fine salt, this quality being very short on the local market.

FARM AND DAISY PRODTTCB. , Mr B. J. M'Abthttb (successor to Messrs M'llroy Bros); George street, reports paying for produce during the week ending the 4th. inst., as follows: Stamped fresh Esws Honey (Jib pat), 3/*? Mi doz Hon»-y (bulk), BJH lb Salt Butter, 1/1 lb Honey (section), 7/- <ioz Sep, Butter, 1/ilb I Honey (Cartons), lib, 6/- | ilb, 15/- doz | Reeswrax. 1/4. Compressed yeast, 7d packet. HIGH COMMISSIONER'S REPORT. WELLINGTON, September 3. The High Commisioner's market report, under date London, September 1, is as follows (Note: Quotations, unles3 otherwise specified, are average market prices on the spot): Meat. —The following maximum wholesale meat prices have been fixed during September: Home-killed beef, per lb, 13d; imported—hinds 12£d, fores 10£d. Homekilled mutton and lamb, 13d; imported, Had. Home-killed pork, 14£d; imported, 12|d. As the result of heavy supplies, home-killed mutton and beef at.-Smithfiela market are selling at comparatively low prices, the demand' being less than the supply. New Zealand mutton, B|d; ewe mutton, B^d; Argentine mutton, lOd; New Zealand lamb, lOd; Argentine lamb, lid; Argentine chilled beef —hinds H|d, fores 9d. It is most probable that New Zealand: •mutton and lamb (lOd and lid) will be increased in accordance with the wholesale maximum prices quoted above. Butter and Cheese. —Quotations nominal for both butter and cheese, awaiting orders from the Ministry of Food. Meanwhile, as a preliminary to further control, the exportation of butter has been prohibited except under license. Hemp.—Manila hemp, s little business doing (mutilated word here). New Zealand market affected by uncertainty - regarding Government control. It appears probable that prices will be established on the basis of Manila. New Zealand highpoint fair, on spot, has been sold at auction at £2O per ton. New Zealand common, afloat, £SB. Wheat. —The market is dull on account of Government offerings being very Email. No change in price. Oats.—The market is steady, and fair business is doing. No. 2 white clipped! American, 59s 6d; afloat No. 2 Canadian, 61s 6d; Chilian, 64s for spot. OAMARU MARKETS. (From-Our Own Correspondent.) OAMARU, September 1. There is still little to report in connection with the grain market. Wheat has about disappeared, and so far as is known there are only some two or three small lots in the country to be handled. Oats are very rarely offered from the country, and the only sales reported were a line of A grade Gartons at 4s, not delivered, a line of good Algerians at 3s 6d, and another of light feed Algerians at 3s 4d, both the latter being net at country stations. There is a better inquiry from the north for chaff, and some business has been done at country stations at £4 to £4 10s, net, according to sample. A sale was made of dressed Italian ryegrass seed at 6s 10id, f.0.b., sacks extra. More inquiry has been experienced for potatoes, which have made some recovery in values. Sales have been made at country stations at £3 5s and £3 los_net, but there are few sellers at the prices, and an advance on the top figure has been refused. Stocks in North Otago have be* come light and holders confident. SOUTHLAND MARKET REPORTS. (From Our Own Correspondent, t INVERCARGILL, September 1. Business in oats continues quiet. Offerings from growers are insignificant, and buyers from the north are unwilling to pay the enhanced prices that have been ruling for some weeks past. Importations into the North Island from Australia have of course ceased, by reason of the strike in the commonwealth, and northern buyers are hoping" that on the termination of the conditions prevailing in Australia there will be a resumption of shipping from that country. The few farmers in this locality who are still holding oats appear to bo of the opinion that higher prices can reasonably be looked for within in the course of the next month

or two, and are consequently very difficult to doal with. A grade Gartons, which are exceedingly scarce, are worth to-day 3s 8d to 3s 9d on trucks; B grade Gartons, 3s 7d to 3s 8d; and F.A.Q. and Duns, 3s 5d to 3s 6d. A sparrowbdls are also in short supply, and may be quoted at from 3s 7d to 3s Bd, B grade being worth Id per bushel less, and F.A.Q. 3d less than A grade. There is a strong local demand for chaff, but nothing is doing with the north owing to the freight difficulty. Prime quality is readily saleable to-day at £5 per ton on trucks, but merchants are having groat difficulty in securing their freight requirements.

There is stili a strong demand for ryegrass, not only for local seed purposes but for shipment" to the north, but as the majority of the merchants down here hold scarcely more than sufficient stocks for their own requirements they feel disinclined to enter into any commitments for wholesale parcels. Nice clean seed, weighing 301 bto 521 b per bushel, is worth to-day up to 7s 3d. The hemp market is somewhat unsettled at the present time as there are rumours in circulation that the Government propose to commandeer the output. Sales have recently been made in the vicinity of £57 per ton on trucks for high point fair, and a week or two ago it was reported that one or two millers had been offered £6l for the same quality. As the prices ruling arc lucrative a number of men new to the busines propose running mills during the forthcoming season. Labour at the present time is fairly plentiful, but, when all the mills commence operations, it is feared that the labour supply will be insufficient to cope with the demand.

Tow is not interesting buyers to any extent owing to the extreme difficulty in securing freight. Its nominal value can be put clown at £6 per ton. GRAIN AND PRODUCE SALES. Messrs Donald Reid and Co. report:— Oats: The market is firm for all classes. Prime Gartons suitable for milling or seed have most inquiry, but medium qualities have more attention, and nearly all kinds arc saleable at quotations. Prime milling, 4s Id to 4s 2d; good to best feed, 3s lOd to 4s; inferior to medium, 3s 3d to 3s 9d per bushel (sacks extra). Wheat: No lines of prime milling quality are offering. There is a good demand for fowl wheat—best quality preferred,—and any consignments ooming forward are readily placed at 6s Id to 6s 3d; medium quality, 5s 6d to 6s per bushel (sacli3 extra). Potatoes: During the past few days there has been more inquiry for prime table lines. Mast of the consignments in store are _ more or less sprouted, and require re-picking to make them marketable, as the demand is practioally confined to prime quality in good condition. There is a fair quantity of seed on hand, which meets with only a moderate demand. Best table potatoes, £4 to £4 2s 6d; medum to good, £3 100 to £3 15s; inferior, £2 10s to £3 per ton (sacks included). Chaff: Moderate supplies are coming forward. Local requirements are not heavy, and there is no outlet for shipment, consequently the quantity arriving is sufficient to supply the demand. Prime quality is in most favour, and sells readily at £6 5s to £6 10s; medium to .good, £5 10s to £6 ; light and discoloured, £4 10s to £5 53 per ton (bags extrai Messrs Dalgety and Co. report:—Oats: There is a good demand for all coming forward, but the quantity offering is limited. Good, bright, heavy lines, suitable for milling or seed purposes, are readily quitted at quotations. Feed oats have also been attracting more attention from buyers, but damaged and inferior lines are not receiving the same inquiry. Prime milling, 4s to 4s 2d; good to best feed, 3s 9rl to 4s; medium to good, 3s 6d to 3s 9d; damaged and inferior, from 3s 3d per bushel (sacks extra). Wheat: There is practically none offering. A few consignments are being disposed of in small quantities for local feed requirements. Best whole fowl wheat, 6s to 6s 3d; medium to good, 5s 6d to 6s per bushel (sacks extra). Potatoes: There has been _ more inquiry of late for choice, freshly-picked lines, and consignments of these have not been offering plentifully. Most of the lines in store require picking over, and for these there is not quite the same inqtiiry. Faulty and inferior lines are almost,, neglected. Best tables, £4 to £4 2s 6d; medium to good, £3 5s to £3 15s per ton (sacks in). Chaff: Moderate consignments have been ooming forward of late, and all good, bright, heavy oaten sheaf is meetintr a ready sale on arrival at quotations. Best oaten sheaf. £6 5s to £6 10s; medium to good, £5 10s to £6; damaged and inferior lines, £4 10s to £5 5s per ton (sacks extra). SALE OF MERINO STUD FLOCK. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. report as follows: —We have sold privately, at a very satisfactory price, the whole of Mr R. K. Smith's Malvern Downs merino stud flock, comprising 435 breeding ewes, 138 ewe hoggets, and 10 stud rams, to Mr Frank H. Smith, Waratah, Albury. The Malvern Downs merinos are the descendants of 220 speoially-selected stud ewes purchased from the flock of Mr C. D. Sanger, South Wangamong, New South Wales, and imported to New Zealand in 1912. The Wangamong merinos are noted far und wide for their size of frame, weight of wool, and stroncr constitution. Of the original 220 ewes which were four and five years' old when imported in 1912, 191 are still being bred from. The rams used were specially imported from Mr F. A. Edol's Burrawang (N.S.W.), Mr Hawker's Bungaree stud, in South Australia, and from anowie, the two Canowio rams being by Donald Dinnie, probably the most famous merino sire in Australia. OTAGO FARMERS' HORSE BAZAAR. The Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association report: —Wo held our annual spring sale of horses on Thursday. The quality of 50 draught mares, fillies, and geldings was exceptionally good—ages ranging from threo years off to live and six years old, and in most cases wore bred and reared by the vendors. The balance of the entry—--25 draught and spring-carters—were in som*j oases aged, but good, useful horses. The attendance of farmers, town carriers, and contractors was exceptionally good, buyers being present from South Canterbury, Oamaru, Palmerston, Waikouaiti, Milton, Balclutha, Waitahuna, Lawrence, Beaumont, and the Taieri, and ono or two commercial houses had their representatives present eagerly noticing the conduct of the auction. The whole of the country consignments, the bulk of which was bred from imported Btock, met with good competition. The appended names of breeders is a sufficient guarantee of the quality of their horses, and farmers anxious to procure a better class than is usually in the market had no hesi-

tation in bidding fairly high prices:— Messrs William Elliott (Lovell's Flat), D. Bryce (Lovell's Flat), Chris. Robmaon (Lovell's Flat), James Anderson, James M'Lcod (North Branch), Wedge Bros. (North Taicri), D. Ruthvcn (North Taieri), Thomas Driver (Mihiwaka), William. Charters (Ury Park), J. and J. Shepherd (Central Otago). A large number of other good vendors had a complete clearance at auction, at prices ranging from £lB to £33. Altogether of 70 horses entered 55 went to fresh stables at prices satisfactory to vendors. Two superior five-year-old geldings and onomaro, on account of Mr William Hastie, fetched £4O and £4l. A very fine filly on account of the Wairongoa Springs Estate was passed in at 40 guineas. The auction went with a good swing from start to finish, with a most satisfactory result.