COMMERCIAL

Southland Times, Issue 22130, 26 September 1933, Page 2

COMMERCIAL

OKARITO RETURN. (Per United Press Association.) Dunedin, September 25. The Okarito return was 40oz, 13dwt. for 111 hours dredging. BRIAN BORU DREDGE RETURN. (Per United Press Association.) Greymoutli, September 25. The Brian Boru dredge return was 58ozs lOdwts for 95 hours’ working. GOLDEN SANDS RETURN. (Per United Press Association.) Christchurch, September 25. The Golden Sands Ltd. return was 43 ounces 11 dwts for 36 shifts. SYDNEY STOCK EXCHANGE. MARKET VERY ACTIVE. (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 8.20 p.m.) Sydney, September 25. Although there was no very pronounced change in prices the market on the Stock Exchange to-day remained exceedingly active. There was a slackness due to profit-taking and giltedgeds were rather overshadowed,, but all bond issues retained their strength. There was excellent inquiry for tin shares and the better class trading concerns, also banks, which were firmer. Sales:—

SYDNEY WOOL, SALES. PRICES EASE SLIGHTLY. (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 10.10 p.m.) Sydney, September 25. At the wool sales 12,773 bales were offered and 11,331 sold, 309 being disposed of privately. Prices were 5 per cent, below the closing rates last week. All descriptions of burry and faulty wools were ircgular. Greasy Merino made to 22jd for five bales from Moree. The average price per bale last week was £lB 11/9 or 14.1 d per pound. MEAT QUOTATIONS. The New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board has received the following cable from its London office, dated September 22, advising that the following are the approximate average prices realized for the week based on actual transactions of wholesale quantities of the descriptions of meat mentioned and are for representative parcels of the goods offering during the week, being for business done on the basis of delivered to Smithfield Market and or ex London stores. (Prices for the previous week are also shown): — lh 4

Lamb Market: Quiet and prices unchanged; consumption being reduced by heavy supplies Home killed. Mutton Market: Steady with fair trade. Ewes dull with trade slow.

Beef Market: Heavy stocks continue to depress market. N.Z. Porker Pigs: Fair demand with prices firm. N.Z. Baconer Pigs: Meeting good demand with prices unchanged. COOK ISLANDS ORANGE TRADE. INADEQUATE SHIPPING SERVICES. The following statement is from the Secretary for the Cook Islands:— _ Vast areas of new citrus cultivations that have been planted in Australia during recent years have provided surplus crops much in excess of the Australian markets’ local requirements, and one of the main outlets has been New Zealand. As Australia has a cheap freight and regular and frequent shipping services to New Zealand, and the Australian grower is ready to dump his surplus crop at little over cost of production, the Australian orange trade has rapidly replaced the trade from our own Cook Islands, as the following figures show: — 1928 1931 lb . lb Australian 5,101,900 11,156,620 Cook Islands 7,881,699 3,336,439

This competition, together with the poor prices that have been returned to the Cook Islands grower on account of his orange sales over a number of years, has been a serious setback to the orange trade in the Cook group, but the recent embargo on Australian oranges has created a revival of the Island orange trade.

Up to the present time the bulk of oranges imported from the Cook Group have been gathered from trees that have grown for many years in a more or less wild state on the lands of the native people without cultivation, the wonderful fertility of the soil producing immense crops from these trees for over half a century. Some of the trees have attained an unbelievably immense size, with a girth to be measured not in inches but in feet, and take their place with the indigenous forest trees. The efforts of the Administration have been for some years directed to the elimination of all “forest” citrus trees, the cutting down of old trees that have passed their usefulness, and their replacement with good stock trees in ordered plantations. Many acres of new trees have been laid down within the past few years, but progress generally has been slow. With better market prospects ahead, the Administration has recently made a very definite forward movement to place the Cook Island orange trade on a sound footing at the Islands, and an Order-in-Coucil published in last week’s Gazette indicates the steps that all growers in the islands are to be required to take to put their plantations in order. All old trees unsuitable for profitable bearing are to be cut down, and clumps of citrus trees are to be thinned out to 10 feet space between trees. All dead and diseased wood is to be cut out, and trees are to be topped to such a height as may be directed. It is estimated that there are no fewer than 40,000 unsuitable trees on the island, and the work of cutting down has already been commenced. In order to avoid the incurring of costs by the individual growers arrangements have been made for community saws, axes and secateurs to be provided through the existing packing sheds, the cost of which will be found from a levy on exports; and by team work it is anticipated that this task will be completed at an early date. The present method of packing fruit in Rarotonga is to be retained. Each district at present (seven in number) has its district packing shed, equipped with machine graders and a staff of packers under the direction of a packing shed committee and the Government inspectors. This system of packing has been in operation for some years and has now entirely replaced the previous method of picking direct from trees into boxes without grading of any description before shipping. The methods of shipment from the islands are crude, and steamer calls are not sufficiently frequent, which constitute a weakness in the island fruit industry. Modern transport in cool storage conditions and a regular fortnightly steamer would go far in putting the Cook Island orange trade on a good footing. Hundreds of tons of magnificent oranges are allowed to go to waste annually in the Cook group for the lack of shipping services, particularly in the outer islands of Aitutaki, Mangaia, Atiu and Mauke, which are not regular ports of call for transocean steamers. The low prices returned to the native grower for his fruit, due to the channels through which the Cook Islands fruit is sold, are a serious deterrent to trade, and this is a matter which is also engaging the attention of the Administration at the present time.

£ s d Bank of New South Wales 33 17 6 Commercial Bank of Sydney 18 10 0 Commercial Bank of Australia 17 3 E.S. and A. Bank 6 2 6 Union Bank 10 17 6 National Bank (£5 paid) 6 17 6 Queensland National Bank 5 13 0 Colonial Sugar 59 17 6 Australian Provincial Assurance 12 6 Australian General Insurance 11 5 Howard Smith 12 6 Berlei 1 7 6 British Tobacco 1 17 0 Dunlop Perdriau 19 6 Dunlop Perdriau (pref.) 1 13 6 Goldsbrough Mort 19 10J Anthony Hordern 11 5 Anthony Hordern (pref.) 1 0 0 Automatic Totalisators 16 6J David Jones 1 13 6 Newcastle Gas (C.) 12 1 Standard Cement 16 6 Australian Iron and Steel 17 41 Electrolytic Zinc 1 5 9 Nestle’s (pref.) 1 13 9 Henry Jones 1 18 41 Morris Hedstrom 1 0 0 Wilcox MofTlin 9 3 Winchcombe Carson 1 8 0 Hume Pipes 10 6 Gibson and Howes 1 4 0 Wunderlich 1 2 0 Broken Hill Pty. 2 0 0 South Broken Hill 3 9 0 South Broken Hill (New. Zealand delivery) 3 9 0 Kuala Kampar 9 0 Mt. Morgan 2 10 0 Bulolo Gold 4 16 6 Bulolo Deposits 1 9 Melbourne Sales. Commercial Bank of Australia 17 4 Goldsbrough Mort 1 10 0 Dunlop Perdriau 19 5 Mt. Lyell 1 3 6 North Broken Hill 4 10 0

(Per lb.) 22/9/33.15/9/33. d. d. N.Z. sheep, Canterbury and North Island Selected Crossbred Wethers and Maiden Ewes— 481b to 561b 43 43 571b to 641b 41 41 651b to 721b 4 4 North Island do. — 481b to 561b 4} 43 571b to 641b 44 44 651b to 721b 4 4 Ewes— 481b and under 33 33 481b to 641b 33 34 651b to 721b 31 38 N.Z. Lambs, Canterbury— 361b and under 71 7.1 371b to 421b 74 74 431b to 501b 61 61 Second quality, average 321b 7 7 Other South Island brands— 361b and under 71 71 371b to 421b 74 74 431b to 501b 61 61 Including Downs, selected North Island brands— 361b and under 74 74 371b to 421b 74 74 431b to 501b 61 64 Second quality, average 321b 7 7 Other North Island brands, first quality— 361b and under 7 7 371b to 421b 61 68 Second quality, average 321b 7 7 Argentine lamb, first quality, New season s— 361b and under 7 7 371b to 421b 63 63 N.Z. BeefOx fores 2| 2i Ox hinds 34 34 Argentine chilled beef— Ox fores 24 34 Ox hinds 53 6 Australian Frozen Beef— Ox crops, over 1001b 23 23 Ox hinds, over 1601b 31 31 N.Z. Prime Porker Pigs— 601b to 801b 6 6 811b to 1001b 6 53 1011b to 1201b 53 53 N.Z. Baconer Pigs— 1201b to 1601b 53 53