CANTERBURY STATION SHEEP SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3443, 9 March 1920, Page 14

CANTERBURY STATION SHEEP SALES.

Tho annual ewe fair at Scargill, and the first of tho season in Canterbury, was held last week. Owing to several of tho lines usually sold at the Amberley failbeing entered, the yarding of ewes totalled 7271, as compared 'with 2249' last year. There was a largo attendance of district farmers, and a few buyers from a distance were present. Tho sale was an animated one throughout, and excellent prices ruled, being several shillings better than last year's. Mr Stewart Gibb, of Motunan, who topped tho market last year w'ith a lino of two-tooth Corriedalo iswes at 40s, repeated tho performance this year with a line of 137 similar sheop which realised 495, the purchaser being Mr T. Stevenson, of Spotswood. The next best price was obtained for 320 twotooth halfbrsd ewes bred by Mr H. Little and sold for Mr J. L. Gibb, of Motunau, which realised 455, Mr Eric Gardiner, of Vulcan Downs, being the purchaser. The range of prices was as follows: —Halfbred two-tooth wethers —best 41s to 495, others

28s to 375; two, four, and six-tooth. 29s 6d, six and eight-tooth 31s, four-year-old 31s 6d to 365; sound-mouth—best 32s to 33s 3d, others 22s 6d to 27s lOd; threia-quarterbred broken ewes 30s to 345, four and six-tooth 35s 9d to 395. The hill sheep of Lowry Peaks were for the most part bought by incoming occupiers, and excellent prices were realised £ halfbred merino ewes—two-tooths 445, halfbred four and six-tooth ewes to 41s, threequarterbreds to 355, halfbred four and five-year-old ewes to 28s 3d, three-quarterbred lambs 225, halfbred 21s od. HIGH COMMISSIONER'S CABLE. WELLINGTON, March A. The following cable message has been received from the High Commissioner, dated London, February 28: — Meat.—There is no change in the price, but it is expected that imported mutton will be reduced to 9d per lb in a week or two. The followiifg are the maximum wholesale fixed! prices for imported rabbits as from March .1: —'Special, not less than 781 b, in crates, 56s per crate; large, 60lb, 465; young, retail price" is Is Id per lb, buyers taking 1 the skin; but only B£d if the retailer retains the skin. In each case the rabbit is weighed in the skin. ' Hemp.—The Manila market is weaker, and the tendency is downward. The present eelling price of "J" grade, January-March to March-May shipments, £76. The New Zealand market closed dull, and is easier. High points, on spot, are now quoted at £64; January-March shipment, £6l; fair, JanuaryMarch shipment, £59. The wool sales closed to-day.. There was good competition throughout the series. Compared with the last series prices for fine crossbreds were maintained. Coarse and inferior were generally neglected, and prices have declined 5 per cent, to 7£ per cent. Crossbreds, fine, 2s 10d to 4s; medium, Is lOd to 2s 7d; coarse, Is 5d to Is Bd. Superior merinos met with strong demand from America, and have advanced 10 per cent. SOUTHLAND MARKET REPORT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, March 6. A large quantity of the new" crop of oats has been cut and, should the weather continue fine, it is bound to be saved in particularly good condition, but owing to the long spell of dry weather it is going to be light in weight. Meantime there is practically no business passing beyond an occasional transaction for forward delivery. Local merchants, however, are not keen to enter into commitments for forward deliveries, as the opinion is general that prices are likely to advance on those now being quoted. There seems little room few doubt that there is likely to be_ a smaller quantity of oats on the market this, season than was the case last year. There have bean a few lines of chaff offering lately, but business is almost exclusively confined to the local market, as there has been no opportunity of shipping north. Prices remain on the same level as those quoted last week. There has been no change in the ryegrass market during the Offerings have been coming along freely, and the majority of farmers have been accepting current prices which, in the opinion of the majority of the merchants, are dangerously high. Up to 7s 6d per bushel for heavy-weight clean seed has been paid, while lighter samples, containing more foreign matter, have been fetching 63 to 6s 9d. The greater part of Chewings Fescue seed has passed into the hands of merchants for prices ruling up to as high as Is o£d per lb on trucks. The demand out-

side the dominion is, so far, disappointing, and it will be interestng to watch the efforts of buyers to dispose of their purchases. There is little doing in potatoes, as the crops are not sufficiently ripe for digging. Recent transactions have been confined, to the turning over of early potatoes for use on the local market. The hemp market is still fairly high, particularly so for high grade stuff. Good fair has been sold at £4O per ton on trucks, high fair at £37, while low fair is worth £34. There is still a comparatively small quantity of this article about, the higher grade being eagerly snaxjped up by binder twine manufacturers. OAMARU MARKETS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) OAMARU, March 6. v The thrashing of wheat has practically only commenced. The result so far reported may be classed as very satisfactory, up to 60 bushels of Dreadnought and College Hunter varieties having been obtained, while at least one yield of 50 bushels per acre is reported, and equal retxirns from other varieties. No lines of any magnitude have come on the market, but there have been a number of small lines of different varieties handled. The quality generally is good, though some samples were inclined to be soft as a consequence of premature thrashing. • Offerings of oats have not been free, and as growers' opinions as to values are in excess of what merchants are prepared to give business has been on a limited scale. Some samples submitted were slightly discoloured by rain, and in a few cases the quality was uneven owing to seconds being left in. Hie sales reported include A grade Gartons at from 4s Sd to 4s lOd, B Gartons at 4s 6d, and medium quality seed Algerians at 5s 3d, all net on trucks at sidings. - Several lines of malting barley of modest dimensions have found buyers at 9s net at country stations. Some Cape barley has been on offer, and a sale of last year's is reported at 7s, while one lot of new season's was placed at Cs 9d, both net at country stations. A little business has been done in grass seeds, farmers' dressed ryegrass having been sold at from. 6s 6d to 6s 9d net at country stations, while cocksfoot has been dealt in at Is 2d to Is 4d net, country stations. HIDE SALE. EXCEPTIONAL PRICES REALISED. . Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. (Ltd.) report as follows: —The first sale of hides in Dunedin under the recent Government gazetted notice which removed the embargo on export was held on the 2nd, when we submitted a catalogue of very choice abattoir hides. The high prices reported in the North Island were fully equalled, and in some cases were exceeded. Under the old agreement tanners obtained their requirements of super ox hides at 13Jd to 14d, and cow hides at 12d per lb, whereas the values paid for the same class of hides under the present arrangement, which allows the exporters to bid, are 23d to 23fd for ox and 22§d to 22£d for cows. The highest prices obtained by us were: Ox hides, 23fd; cow, 22Jd; yearlings, 26£d. while calfskins reached the extreme figures of 48d per lb. The following are some of our best prices at per lb: —Ox hides: Seven 751 b, 23fd; 48 ox 631 b, 23Jd; 23 60lb, 23£d; 24 631 b. 23d; 66 561 b, 22£d; 97 491 b, 22»d; eight 421 b, 21£d. Cow hides: 12 521 b, 22Jd; 14 511 b, 22*d; 55 441 b, 22£d; 23 431 b, 22£d; 12 3Slb, 22&d; 12 361 b, 22£d; 155 calfskins, 7Jlb, 48d; 54 51b, 48d; 42 121 b, 31d. It will also ibe of interest to readers to give some of our gross returns at per hide after the deduction of 4lb tare has been made: Ox hides: Seven, £7 0s 6d; 24, £5 15a 6d; 24«. £5 13s 6d; 23, £5 13s; 23, £5 9s 6d; 66, £4" 17s 6d; 97, £4 43 4d. Cow hides: 12, £4 9s; 14, £4 7s 2d; 55, £3 14s 2d; 23, £3 12s 4d. Calfskins: 155, £1 6s; 54, £l. Quotations: Extra stout heavy ox, to 23fd; stout heavy, 23d to 23-Jd; medium, to 22|d; light, to 22Jd; stout heavy cows, to 22Jd; medium, to 22Jd; light, to 22Jd; yearlings, 24d to 26Jd; calfskins, slb to 48d; 7|lb to 48d; heavier, 26id to Rid. ' . DISPERSAL OF tJciORTHORN HERD. CHRISTCHURCH, March 4. A dispersal sale of Messrs W. and J. Nixon's noted Killinchy stud of shorthorn cattle was held on the Addington show grounds to-day. Shorthorn breeders from widely-scattered parts of the dominion attended, and the sale was a particularly successful one, high values being recorded. The sale to-day for 59 lots of cows and heifers realised £4071, an average of £69, the top price being 255gns for a cow bought by Mr J. O. Coop (Canterbury). The bull Ellesmere Carbine X was bought by Messrs Riddiford Bros. (Upper'Hutt) for 475gns. Two other two-year-old bulls—Ellesmere Carbine XV and Ellesmere Lord. Buick—were passed in at 145gns and 150gns respectively. The yearling bulls realised -fair prices, but the sale throughout was a notably good one, 67 lots aggregating £4652. DUNEDIN HIDE SALES. Messrs Waters, Ritchie, and Co. report a 3 follows:—We resumed our usual auction of hides on Thursday, which for some weeks past have been postponed, pending a decision as to the removal of Government restrictions which have been in force for some time. The amended restrictions now imposed allow shippers Jo compete for all lines, and thereby owners are now enabled to obtain prices equivalent to the world's market value. The total offerings at the Dunedin auction sales this week amounted to 3608 hides and 3568 yearling and calf skins, of which number we offered and sold 2370 hides and 2C59 calfskins, equal to two-thirds of the total offerings. Competition was extremely keen, and record prices were obtained for all descriptions'. Prices, as compared with the last auction sales, advanced from 6d to 8d per lb.» We topped the market with 26d per lb for ox, 23Jd for cows, and 48 Jd for calfskins. The following were some of our best prices:—Ox, 1 761 b 26d, 1 70lb 25d, 84 621 b 24£d, 5 70lb 24Jd, 1 751 b 24Jd, 16 621 b 24d, 104 551 b 23fd, 39 631 b 23£d, 11 611 b 23£d, 104 491 b 231 d, 278 lb 231 d, 32 551 b 23|d, 29 40lb 23Jd, 59 531 b 23|d, 13 431 b 23£d, 7 541 b 23id, 2721 b 23d, 22 531 b 23d, 20 631 b 23d, 42 481 b 23d, 7 421 b 23d, 3 501 b 23d. 2721 b 22|d, 5 431 b 22Jd, 11 491 b 2,2Jd, 44 451 b 22Jd. 6 631 b 22Jd, 16 "381 b 22d; 20 411 b 22d, 21 661 b 22d, 31 491 b 22d, 20 371 b 22d. Cows—63 521 b 23id, 7 541 b 23Jd, 86 431 b 22fd, 142 441 b 23d, 80 441 b 23d, 27 541 b 23, 26 451 b 223 d, 8 521 b 221 d, 8 531 b 22* d, 21 521 b 22|d, 18 531 b 22*d, 111 361 b 22£d, 45 431 b 22d, 58 441 b 22d, 51 531 b 22d, 28 371 b 21|d, 12 351 b 21$d per lb. In money value ox brought up to £7 16s, and cows to £5 8s 6d each. We quote: Stout ox, 24£d to 26d; heavy, 23|d to 24£d; medium, 22|dl to 23|d; light, 22d to 23d. Cows, medium and heavy, 22d to 23Jd; light, 21d to 22|d. Calfskins, beat, to 48Jd; medium, to 45d; damaged, 20d to 36d. .Heavy calf, 26d to 36dl per lb. PROPERTY SALES. Messrs J. S>amson and Co. offered for sale by auction on the 3rd inst. ; several sections in the Ettrick district, which under competition were sold to Mr S. Fletcher (Lawrence), as agent, at a satisfactory figure. The properties submitted were section 21, block

VIII, containing 11J poles, and sections 1 to 19, block VIII, 4 acres 2 roods 4 poles, all in the town of Ettrick; and section 81, block I, comprising 65 acres 32 poles, in the Benger survey district.

Messrs Moss and Phillips, auctioneers, offered several city properties for sale on the 3rd at 124 George street. There was a large attendance of buyers, and bidding was veryspirited. The two following properties were disposed of:—Section 48, block-XXVII, Clyde street, with six-roomed house thereon, £420 ; section 56, block XXIV, M'Kenzie street, with four-roomed dwelling, £230.