THE BREADSTUFFS AND PRODUCE MARKETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3467, 24 August 1920, Page 13

THE BREADSTUFFS AND PRODUCE MARKETS.

Friday evening. In a cable message received by Lindley Walker Co-operative Wheat Company (Ltd.) from their Liverpool agents relating to the world wheat position, it is advised that Argentina and India have had good rains. The North American crops are shaping well, and a little new wheat is moving. In Europe there has been some deterioration, and the general prospects point to sufficient supplies. The British Government has purchased 250,000 tons of Manchurian wheat. The Victorian Wheat Commission has advised flour millers that the price of wheat for gristing into flour for ships' stores and for export to the Pacific Islands ha 3 been raised by 6d, to 14s per bushel. . LOCAL MARKETS. The local wheat market is stagnant, praetioally no milling wheat being now on offer. The supply of fowl wheat which was to be sent to Dunedin by the Government has not yet come to hand. Millers' prices are as follow:—Flour, £l7 per ton; 100's, £lB 10s; 50's, £l9; 2o's, £2O. Bran, £8 15s per ton. Pollard, £lO 16b. Pearl barley, £35. Oatmeal, £3l per ton. The oat market is very quiet, and price 3 show a further weakness. Most of the millers and merchants are holding fairly heavy stocks. Merchants, however, are not prepared to sell their stocks at current va'ies The price for B Gartons for delivery October to December is given as 4s 9d, f.0.b.5.i., and it was reported to-day that northern merchants were quoting even Id lower than thi3 figure. Farmers are now holding few stocks only, and are not prepared to sell at less than 5s on trucks, sacks extra. PRODUCE REPORT. The broken weather has delayed consignments of chaff. The demand, however, is quiet, feeders drawing their requirements from store lines. Stocke in store are fairly heavy for this time of year, and good quality is selling at £8 7s 6d per ton, sacks extra, and medium at £8 to £8 ss. Fair consignments of potatoes are still arriving from Canterbury. The demand is confined to prime quality, the price Jov these ruling up to £6 per ton, sacks in, ex store. Inferior and medium are unsaleable, and require picking over before a sale can be effected. Eggs show a further decline in price. Bacon ia in sufficient supply to meet the demand. Hams are fairly plentiful. Current wholesale prices are as follow: Fowl wheatt Off the market. Chaff: Sound oaten sheaf, £8 7s 6d; poor and medium, £6 to £B. Potatoes: Prime, to £B. Onions: Up to 18s per cwt, according to quality. Eggs: Stamped, Is lid; fresh, Is lOd. Butter; Milled, bulk, best, Is 6dj separator, pats, to Is 6d. Margarine, to Is 2£d per lb. Pigs: Nominal prices—porkers, lid per lb; baconers, lid per lb. Bacon: Rolls, Is 7d; sides, Is 6d. Hams, Is 9d. FRUIT REPORT. Business has been fairly brisk during the week. Transhipments of Fiji bananas have been coming through daily from Lyttelton. trie fruit was rather small, but in good condition. The market is firm for good dessert apples, and all well-coloured lines are easily sold. Cooking apples are arriving in fair quantities, and are meeting with a good market. Prices, however, are lower than usual for this time of year. A small shipment of Sydney fruit arrived at Lyttelton ex the Moeraki, and was railed to Dunedin.

Very few pears have reached tho market during tho week. Good quality sold well.

A shipment of fruit from South Australia arrived to-day ex Paloor>a. The fruit will be sold to-morrow.

Prices for cabbages ?nd cauliflower,) are firmer.

Current wholesale prices are as follow:

Dessert appies: Jonathans, 9s to 10s; Cleopatxas, 10a to lis 6d; Delicious, lis to 14s per case; Stunners, 10s to lis; Scarlets, 9s; cookers, l|d to 2£d; Lord Wolseleys, 6s 6d to 7s 6d; medium, 5s to 6s; inferior quality hard to sell.

Pears: Choice dessert, 10s to lis 6d per case; medium, 7s to Ss; cooking, 2d to 2£d per lb.

Bananaß: Ripe, 35s to 40s; green, 20s. Pines, 25s to 30s per case. Passions, 183 to 21s. Lemons: Galifornian, 48s; Adelaide, 2'2s to 255; Sydney, 14s to 16s. Mandarins, 25s to 30s for choice; others at relative. rates.

Oranges: Poorman. 14s to 15s; Sydney, 12s to 15s; Galifornian, 4Gs to 48s. Table carrots: Bags, 2s 6d to 3s 6d; cases, 2s. Cabbage: Choice, 5s per dozen: prime, 29 8d to 3s; sacks, 4s 6d to 9s; medium, 2s 6d to 33 6d per sack. Cauliflowers: Medium, 3s 6d to 5s per dozen; prime, 6s to 10s per dozen; sacks, choice, to 13s 6d. Potatoes: Taieri, 6s to 7s per cwt. Table swedes, 3s 6d to 5a per sack. Brussels sprouts, 8s per box. MERCHANDISE MARKET.

Daily Times Office, Saturday Morning. The Waimaaa, duo here shortly, has on board Morton's Epsom salts, Horlick's ma'ted milk, "Wilson's loz .gelatine and loz isinglass, bovril. Eno's fruit salt 3, etc. A lino of Red Jacket tobacco has come to hand and! has been quickly taken up by retailers. The price is 8s lOd per lb m bond. A further shipment is expected next week. Three Castles tobacco continues in short supply. * Vermicilli is quoted at 8s 6d per dozen packets. Tho market is still short of wax vestas and English and Swedish safeties. The "Wsi mana is bringing a parcel of Bell's 250 vestas from England. These will help to supply local wants until Bell's New Zealand factory is able to overtake the demand. They are quoted at 44s per gross. A supply of Golden Eagle tobacco is on board the Borderer, now at Lyttelton, and due.in Dunedin in a few days.

Advice from Singapore states that the market for sago and tapioca ha 3 firmed. The current quotation for sago, ex store, is 30s to 40a; tapioca, 423. Symington's soups, ex Waimana, show an increased cost. The current quotation is 6s per dozen. Preserved ginger has been reduced in price. It is now quoted at 2s per lb. Locally packed loz essences are quoted at 6s per-dozen.

Hops are in very short supply. Packets only are available, at 3s per lb. Coutts's acetic acid is now offering at the reduced price of 27s per dozen bottles for small; large 455.

OAMARU MARKETS. (From Odr Own Correspondknt.) OAMARU, August 21. The grain and produce market is at a standstill. Outsido of some few descriptions of things, to be noted presently, there is really nothing to handle. .A few small lots of wheat have come forward, these being previously helct for sead, but not sown owing to unfavourable weather conditions. It is feared that these conditions will result in some curtailment of the prospective area under wheat. For the past fortnight rain and severe frosts and the wet stale of the ground have rendered sowing of any seeds impracticable except in specially favoured situations, and the time for wheat sowing is nearly at an end. The position in regard to oats shows no improvement ; indeed, any' change that can be discovered is for the worse. Some sales as between merchants and by merchants to millers are reported on a basis of lowered prices, but no business has been done with growers, who refuse to view current quotations as representing true values and are content to hold. At the same time there is some activity in seed oats, and it is evident that the area sown will be well up to the average.

Tits-re has been a collapse in the oowgrass seed market. A number of farmers' lots have been hawked about without finding any buyers. Offers at Is 9Jd net at country stations have failed to le-ati to business, and it is evident that prices will reach a lower level. There is absolutely nothing doing in pota toes, and even purchases for local consumption appear to have come to a halt.in the meantime.

SOUTHLAND MARKET REPORT. (Prom Ouk Own CoBRBsroirDJMJT.)

INVERCARGILL, August 22. "With the exception of the local demand, ■which continues strong, especially from millers in outlying districts and fox seed purposes, there is no business to report in oats, as merchants show an utter disregard of the offerings made from the north and evince no desire to accept anything approaching their figures. As far as the shipping trad© is concerned the position is unchanged, and merchants seem to ba unanimously of opinion that they can look with confidence to the future. Farmers' stocks ..in the country are said to be a negligible quantity. A few lines certainly are held in store on fanners' account, but they are firm holders at the late rate of 5s on trucks, sacks extra, so that their stocks are not likely to affect the position. There is still a steady demand for chaff for local requirements at £7 on trucks for good quality, with an occasional offer of £7 5s for anything extra prime at handy stations.

A very considerable a-mount of business is being done in ryegrass in a retail way with farmers for local sowing down, and merchants' stores are now aotiv© in getting out seeds, etc., for the early spring sowing. A fair inquiry still exists in a wholesale way for heavy-weight ryegrass from the north, and in view of the spring retail demand merchants' ideas have an upward tendency. In sympathy with London there is no animation whatever in the local hemp markei. As seems usual in such circumstances, there is a certain amount of inquiry for grades in short supply, but there is such a considerable difference between buyers' and sellers' ideas that business is quite impossible. DISPERSAL SALE OP AYRSHIRES, INVEROABGILL, August 18, The dispersal eale of Rankin's Ayrshire hercl at Inglewood Farm, IJnderwood, attracted a large attendance of breeders from other parts of the dominion. The top price of 102gns was obtained for the champion cow, Highland Mary, which was bought by ths Palmerston North breederj Mr E. Buchanan. Most of the herd remain in Southland. Good prices ruled.

PROPERTY SALES. Messrs Alex. Harris and Co. offered at auction on the 17th' a freehold property situated in Hall street, South Dunedin, in the estate of Mary C. Brady (deceased). There was a good attendance, and after keen competition the property was sold to a client for £515. The Heriot row property was passed in, the bidding not coming up to the owner's expectations. , Alex. Harris and Co. re-port having held ail auction sale on the 19th in their rooms of properties situated in North Dunedin < Anderson's Bay, and North-East Valley. The freehold in the estate of A. Wardlaw, deceased, and situated in Logie street, township of Carlton, North-Ea-st Valley, the house containing five- roms, with modern appointments, and the area of land being 1 rood 23 poles, was knocked down to Mr A. M'Laren at £745. The other properties not reaching the reserves were passed in.