COMMERCIAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1660, 14 January 1895, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

Per Electric Telegraph— Copyright. Per Press Association. London, January 11. The weekly returns of the Bank of England, published to-day, show the total reserve to be £25,160,000, and the proportion of reserve to liabilities 54*66. Consols, 104*. Three months' bills are discounted at I per cent. New Zealand 4 per cent, inscribed stock, 106 ; 3i ditto., 100±. New South .Wales 4 per cent, stock, 108 ; 3£ ditto., 100£. Victorian 4 per cent, stock, 101* ; 3± ditto., 94±. South Australian 4 per cent stock, 106 i; 3± ditto., 100*. Queensland 4 per cent, stock, 105f ; 3i ditto., 975, Tasmanian 3£ per cent, stock, 98£. Western Australian 4 per cent, stock, 111. New Zealand long-berried wheat, ex warehouse, is firmer at 255. South Australian ditto., 26s .- Victorian ditto., 25s 6d. New Zealand frozen meat, first quality, 4d ; second ditto, 3|d ; lamb, 4fd. The Ruahine's frozen meat and also her consignment of butter arrived m excellent condi tion. •• At the New, Zealand hemp sales there was no bidding, and all the bales were bought m. Sugar, German beet, 8s 7£d ; Java, 11s 9d. Silver, 2s 3 5-16 d per oz. No 1 best Scotch pig iron, f.o.b. m the Clyde, 41s 7£d. January 12. A ton of Melbourne winter butter packed m September according to the Sewell patent and shipped as ordinary cargo, has arrived here and is reported to be m magnificent condition. The process excites much interest, and it is considered that if it always yields equal results, it will revolutionise the trade to the amount of £9 per ton. Had it arrived and been available before Christmas, it would have fetched 112s percwt. A. portion of the butter consignment packed m shellac was of inferior quality md had gone off. Sydney, January 12. The area under English barley is jreatly m excess of last year's area. The •stimated yield is 975,000 bushels, the tverage being 15 bushels to the acre. In •egard to feed barley nearly the whole of

which is of the Cape variety, it is antic*? pated that the yield will amount toNw 250,000 bushels, at an average of 24 bushels to the acre. Melbourne, January 12. Some time ago a number of wheat producers m this colony, despatched a delegate to the United States to gather information as to the wheat export trade and cognate matters. They have just received a report frpm him m which he states that he sees no real difficulty m ' the way of bulk shipments of wheat being sent to America at a profit. The inventor of the new whaleback ships, now engaged m conveying wheat to England, assured the delegate that his ships could take the bulk of the grain on any voyage without the necessity of an increase m the insurance risk. The company controlling this method of transportation will consider a suggestion made by the delegate that they will secure almost a monopoly of the Australian wheat trade if they carry bulk cargoes at reasonable rates. If such vessels are procured he suggests the erection of elevators m Melbourne and Geelong. The report adds that the Victorian farmers have so far weathered the storm of low prices better than the American or Canadian farmers, and declares that with proper development they possess advantages which place them far ahead of them. The Leader, m reviewing the oat and hay crops, says that the oat crop is a fairly good one m most districts and really fine crops have been harvested m portions of the northern districts. The crop is estimated at 6,000,000 bushels or 25 bushels to the acre. The hay yield will be about 625,000 tons or 1£ tons per acre. Complaints, however, are made of the dirty character generally of the crops this year which prejudices the market value of the grain.