COMMERCIAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1700, 18 February 1888, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

DUNEDIN PRODUCE MARKETS,

The following is (ho report for the wi ; ek nidiner Wcdmsday •

Wheat-—Buyers are almost entirely out of the market. Transactions and quotations therefore are nominal. Oats —A small business is doing in the various qualities at Is B£d to Is 9cl for prime milling, Is 8d for bright short feed, and Is 7d to Is 7|d for common feed.

Barley—Nothing doing at present. Grass Seed—No improvement in the demand to report.

Potatoes—There is a fair demandat from £2 10s to £3.

Batter—Salt, as yet little demand. Fresh, from storekeepers in cases, 4d to 5d per lb. Eggs—ls 6d per doz. Honey—4d per lb.

Sheepskins —On Monday town butchers’ crossbred skins brought from 12d to 19d; merino skins from 8d to 16d ; lambskins, from Is 6d to 2s 4d: country skins, from 8d to 5s 6cl.

Hides —The demand for all descriptions is good, and recent quotations are firmly maintained. Tallow —We quote prime mutton at from £lB to £2O; good mixed, £l6 to £l7 ; low and ordinary, £l3 to £ls; rough fat, £6 to £ll. DUNEDIN STOCK MARKETS. At the Burnside Yards on Wednesday the following business was transacted : Fat Cattle —187 head yarded. The demand was very slack and prices a shade easier. Best bullocks (heavy weights) brought from £7 to £8 12s (3d ; good, from £5 15s to £6 15s ; light, from £4 to £5 ss; best cows, from £4 10s to £5 10s.—Wright, Stephenson and Co. sold for Mr M. Quinn (Temuka), 7 bullocks at from £6 2s 6d to £6 15s.

Fat Sheep—Only 1677 sheep were penned, about one-third of them crossbred wethers and the balance crossbred ewes. Best crossbred wethers brought from 9a to 10s 6d; ordinary, 7s 6cl to 8s 9d ; best crossbred ewes, from 7s 3d to 9s ; medium, Gs 6d to 7s; inferior, 4s to 5s. — Wright, Stephenson and Co. sold for Mr Thomas Mitchell (Washdyke) 60 crossbred ewes at from 8s 3d to 7s 9d; for Mr Andrew Grant (Temuka), 100 crossbred ewes at from 8s 9d to 7s. Reid, Maclean and Co. sold for the Waimate Estate 124 prime crossbred owes from 8s to 9s 3d (top price for ewes) ; tor Mr Andrew Grant (Temuka.), 31 crossbred ewes at 7s 6d, and 34 half bred do at 7s.

Fat Lambs—sßs permed, and sold readily as follows: —Be t, at from 6s Gd to 7s; ordinary, 5s 9d to 6s 3d. —Wright, Stephenson and Co. sold f-. r Mr Andrew Grant (Temuka), 48 at from Gs to 5a Gd, and Reid Maclean and Co. sold for the same vendor 90 at 4a.

Pigs—ll 4 penned, mostly porkers and suckers. Bacon pigs sold at from 30s to 425; porkers, from 25s to 30s j suckers, from 10s to 14s.

CHRISTCHURCH STOCK MARKETS. At the Addington Yards on Wednesday largo entries of stock, and attendance of buyers small. Tat Cattle—A large entry, varied quality. The demand was very poor and prices fell slightly. Steers sold at from £5 to £5 i Os per head; heifers from £3 10s up to £5 17s 6d, the latier price for heavy weights and superior quality ; being at from 13s to 15s per lUOlb. Fat Sheep—A large entry, all descriptions represented. The best crossbreds sold at from 8s to 9s 3d; light weights, 6s 6d to 7s Od; crossbred ewes, 5s to 8s ; merino wethers, 4s to 5s 3d, being at from Id to per lb as per quality. —Messrs Miles and Co. sold for Mr A. Grant crossbred wethers at 6s 6d to 7s, and Messrs Matson and Co. sold for the sr.me vendor crossbred wethers at Cs 9d to 7s lid.

Fat Lambs—A large number on offer. The best sorts sold at from 5s to 6s; medium and inferior, 3s 6d to 4s 6d; shorn lambs, ss.

Pigs A small entry, mostly porkers, Itate rates fully maintained. Porkers from 18s t-o 30s; stores, 12s to 19s 6d.

CHRISTCHURCH CORN EXCHANGE

The Corn Exchange reports for ilie week ending Friday evening, the 17lit insf, ; The splendid weather during the past four weeks has allowed harvest operations to be carried on with great rapidity, and with a continuance for a week or so longer the majority of the crops will have been safely gathered. The home market remains steady, but the high freights deirmncjecj retard business in old wheats, of which there is a considerable quantity of tusean on hand. Australia has taken a fair quantity of oats from our old stocks and is also inquiring for barley, but no orders a;e expected for our wheat. I ho new grain offering compares very f.vv cable with that of past seasons, e ,p eiajiy wheat. Oais and barley are both offering freely, and the markets for t ! esc cereals may fairly he said to have opened at the prices indicated below: — Wheat—Prime pearl has been sold at 3s 2d to 3s 3d, and is in a small compass, Hunters and tusean are slow of sale at 3s. Second quality is

being taken at 2s 9d for chicken feed, and broken wheat, which is scarce, is worth 2s 6d. New wheat is not yet quotable in quantities, but small sales have taken place at 2s 6d to 2s 7d at country stations, equal to 2s 9d, f.o.b. Oats —Sales are being made at Is 6d to Is 7d for short feed (new), milling being worth Id extra. Old oats have been largely shipped to Australia during the past fortnight which has left the market comparatively bare. Barley—Numerous prime malting samples have been placed at 4s to 4s 3d to Christchurch malsters, and values seem firm at these rates. Shippers, however, are holding back. Grass Seed—Ryegrass finds buyers at 2s to 2s 4d for good farmers’ parcels, and machine dressed is quoted at 2s lOd to 3s. Cocksfoot samples are not coming forward very freely, and buyers haye given as high as 3fd for prime heavy seed for prompt delivery. The value for forward delivery, however, cannot be quoted at over 3£d to 3^d. Dairy Produce is without alteration.

The above prices are those paid to farmers and delivered f.o.b, Lyttelton, sacks extra.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS. , Melbourne, FM). 16. Breadstuffs are quiet. Wheat is 3s 3|rd per bushel. Flour, rollermade, is £8 per ton. The market is steady. Oats, stout, are 2s 9d. Barley is steady. Inferior English is ss, fair to good, 5s sd. Maize is 3a Bd. Sugar shows a slight improvement, Adelaide, Feb. 16. The wheat market is quiet. Shipping is 3s to 3s 2|d, Farmers lots are 3s at Port Adelaide, and 2s lOd at outports. Flour, roller-made, is £8 10s per ton. Oats are 2s 8d to 2s lOd. Barley is 5s to 5s 6d. i Sydney, Frb, 16. The following are the ruling rates at the markets: —Maize, 3s 3d to 3s 4d, the demand is small; oats, 2s to 2s Id, but very small sales are reported ; New Zealand bran, 6|d ; pollard, 7d, with a steady demand; chick wheat, 2s 9d to 3s, for milling purposes, 3s 4d to 3s 6d ; butter, 3d to 6d, factory made 8d; cheese, 2d to 4d; potatoes, 60s per ton ; bacon, to for best brands; bams, Is; barley, Cape shipments, 3s to 3s 3d; no English consignments are offering. ENGLISH MARKETS. Los don. F.'b. 15. Two A ustralian wheat cargoes, comprising 3500 quarters, have been sold at 395. 2000 quarters, in iron bottoms, have been sold for prompt shipment at 38s 9d. At to-day’s wool auction the catalogue comprised 18,800 bales. 160,700 bales have been catalogued since the commencement of the present series, of which number 10,000 have been withdrawn. The bulk of merinos, with the exception of the best brands, have relapsed to the prices realised at last December sales. Crossbreds remain firm with a slightly improved tendency. The length of the series will probably be curtailed. 'fallow —Mutton 275, beef 2gs. Rabbitskins are from 2d to 3d per doz. lower than last quotations. Hides—3id to 4d per lb. Frozen meat remains firm at last quotations. Pig iron has fallen, and is quoted at 32s 9d.

INTE lyPH OVINO fA L HEWS. Exhibits of kauri gum, New Zealand flax, tanakohe bark, pawa fish and pawa shoils; ostrich feathers and eggs, locallymade wine, silk, n‘c., will be forwarded Horn Auckland to the Melbourne Exhibition, A telegram from Dunedin snya: — “ Young Knit, whose disappearance) over a week ago and subsequent re-appearance at Timaru when everyone thought he was drowned, as reported, appears to ba suffering from brain fever. He has now returned to his home. His escapade is likely to prove valuable to him, as the publication of his name has drawn the attention of a firm of solicitors to the fact that enquiry was bring made-as to the whereabouts of the family, and from what can bo learned it appears he is likely to drop into a legacy of some thousands of pounds left by a relative in Scotland,” The Government arc sending forty convicts to Fort Halt-well, It is understood that the forticatioos will be completed by prison labor, Tim creditors in the estate of F, J. Preston, wine merchant, Wellington, have accepted ?,n offer of 5s in the £. Thirt on boiler-maker engaged in the erection of a gasometer for the Wellington Gas Works have gone out on strike, as they allege the work which comes within their duties has been entrusted to enginefitters. Sir Francis Dillon Bell in a cable message to the Premier expresses the opinion that peace will be maintained. Suspicions of foul play have arisen in reference to the death of Robert Wallace. It is stated that he was thrown down in a scuffle in a hotel at Sheffield and kicked when on the ground. Four hundred and fifty bags of crushed quartz from the Adeline mine atKarangnhapa, and 45 bags from the Maritoto claim, are to be shipped to Germany to bo tested by a gold extracting process.