The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mon clays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1894. PRODUCE PRICES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume II, Issue 210, 3 October 1894, Page 2

The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mon clays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1894. PRODUCE PRICES.

Fancy prices have been almost unknown in connection with wool for many a long year, and it is therefore encouraging to learn that at the wool sales held in London on tin 2Sth ult. foreigners bought scoured crossbred at fancy prices. If New Zealand can obtain something less than th* fancy price for the n xt clip of wool, it will help to dispel the all-pervading depression, which, as far in the industrial community is concerned, is probably the most severe known in the history of the colony. The prospects are distinctly good, and are no doubt attributable to the American demand. The fact of scoured wool being in such active demand indicates that the manufacturers are in urgent want of raw material for their immediate requirements. With urgent needs temporarily satisfied, attention will be turnod to greasy wool, and it is unlikely that those manufacturers who have l>.*en caught napping ou this occasion and hav paid dearly for their remissness will again he guilty of the same error of judgment. The probability is that greasy will hr bought in anticipation of requirements, so that the ensuing wool clip should realise hotter prices than has hitherto been the case. The Wool Committee have fixed upon six sales for 181)5, the first to be held on the 15th January next. The opening sale of the New Year will serve as an excellent guide for the series of sales, and we shall be very much disappointed if greasy wool does not reach fancy prices. A fair return for the wool clip will put new heart into our settlors and encourage them fc<* further improve their holdings, while it will also occasion a demand for unoccupied land. The expendi tur* of capital thus brought about will quid* n the trade of the country and gi\ ■ a !n althy tone to business. I'he prospects for butter are not so good as on. could desire, but tin* price fixed by the I’utter Committee, vi:\, lOfis, is not unreasonable. This figure will not he exceeded, the reverse being more probable for the n ;v .on that a large quantity of colonial butter wa« carried over last season, and the output this season is certain to be largely in excess of the quantity exported last season. Furthermore, Danish butter lias boon ruling lower than last season, the quotation for the past few weeks being as follows : Au n •'» Aug. J() Sopt. (\ &«pt. I” 100 k 10 Is 108 s 110 m The price, of the colonial product t .will be regulated by tjhat obtained for Dani h and Iri »h butter, io that with the prospect of a lower figure our butter inanufact un i s need to study the quality of the article exported. This cannot be too strongly impressed upon all those connected with the butter in du..fry, for tlie neglect in furnishing ;i i icl i , trously to the trade in the earning season. With fro en meat tie' position from

latest aocounts has not changed. The 1 oft reitefated advice that the colonial j meat growers should combine for the , ]>urpose of selling direct to the con- I sumers is again ropeatod by the Hon. i Simon Fraser, M.L.C. of Victoria, but advice of this character has no more 1 effect upon our farmers than water has on a duck’s back. The London rings ; of middlemen and tho hundred and one interests that thrive on the, frozen j meat industry, arc apparently an insuperable harrier to any successful action on the part of colonial farmers. ' The difficulties are, we think, more apparent than real, and if our Far- , mers’ Associatiensconjointlyopened up shops in London and the provinces for the sale of frozen meat consigned to ] them by their clients here many of the ! alleged barriers woul4 he removed, j The advice has bean so often tendered . to them that wo wonder our farmer haye not roused themselves and in-, quired into the matter. There is no class so preyed upon by London ; middlemen as the colonial farmers, | and so long as the latter remain indifferent, so long will they have to feed tho vultures of the great metropolis. The shipment of live cattle by the s.s. Maori King was a daring experiment, and although the average price obtained for the shipment did ' not exceed ‘ll d per lh it is on record : that one of the fat cattle sold at Smithfield for 5d per lb. The cattle sent by the above vessel wore admittedly not the best for a ’rial ship ment, hut they served the purpose of “ feeling the way” for •ther shipm ;nA, omd conjiignmeht great r in number was despatched from Sydney by the s.s. Fort Pirie a month later than the Maori King, and better results are expected from this second shipment, which is being conducted on strict by commercial lines. The Port Pirie is under the command of a captain who has gained much experience in the American live stock trade, and should the cargo realise well other and larger shipments will quickly follow. Success in this direction will affect us very slightly, as we have not the herds possessed by New South Wales and Queensland, from which supplies can be drawn.