COMMERCIAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13892, 1 May 1909, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

■}'[• CUSTOMS REVENUE. The following is a comparative statement showing the amoiint of Customs thirties collected Cat Timaru during month of April,, 1908 and ,1909 H;; .: ; : ' 1908. 1909.

-SPUDHOLME JUNCTION SALE. • ;Tbe usual' fortnightly sale was held a&tStadbolme yards yesterdy. The entry forward was a large one, about lX<)00 Bheep: and'l2o head of cattle litiftg penned Bidding on sheep was rathi-r slow, with the result- that .a good ni'iiiy ..pens (principally. stores) were pined in. 'Cittle xire well competed for; and sold -at full values. Sales wefe made asfollows: —Fat lambs, 12s id,vi& 4d, :13s lOd to 14s Id; fat otters, 12s, 14s 4d to 14s lOd; fat ewes, 9s 6d, i9® Bd> J i*}' lb'to lis 10d;. store lambs, 8s bd, jfefaii,: 10b 3d< to llsj young ewes (two and - four-tooths), 15s, P l !' J. J° 16s 3d; agedewes,as, 6s 6d to 8s 3d; ewe lamte, 12*. Cattle.—Fat steers tb-£6 15s, feifers to £6 os, cows to £5 58, stores (steers and heifers) L- 10s to.£4 ss, yearlings to £L 10s.

.vCLEARING SAUES. iThe National Mortgage and Agency Company of lirot having held a. clearing sale o.i account of Mr Geo. Williams, St. Andrews, on Thursday, 29t1». There was a mod attendance of buyers present. Competition for every lot was keen, Mj»hlin|r us to make a complete clearaiufce. Sheep, aged, ewes sold at 10s 7d, • spring cart gelding at 4.1* baton pigs £-2 10s to £3 Is, sow witu litter £6 15s, store pigs £1 14s, spring diray £ll, spring trap £l4s 10s, ana other implements and sundries at full market rates.' ■ ■ The National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand, Limited, report as follows: —On Thursday, 29th, we -held a dearing sale at Hook" \ alley j of live and dead stock, on_account Mr R. Andrews; also on account of Mr J. W. Anderson, his contracting plant, comprising horses, implements, • etc. A»-the former vendor has disposed of lut lease, and the latter giving.up contracting, everything' offered was for absolute sale, a fact which materially helped the sale. Competition was good throughout, and realised prices satisfactory. Messrs Guinness and LeCren, report having- held a very successful clearing sale, 'on account of Mr J. Wordsworth, at Orari, on Thursday. There was a good attendance of farmers from the surrounding districts, with the result that every lot was cleared at satisfactory prices. The following are some of the principal items Sheep.— 177 fat and forward lambs 12s 2d, 100 f.m. three-quarterbred ewes 8s 4d, 50 do, 8s 3d, 30-do. 8s Id, 2 do. Bs. 100 f.in. crossbred ewes in lamb 10s 3d, 5 Bii. two-shear rams £1 Is. Cattle. — Kat steers £5, dry and empty cows £2 lOirto £4 12s, cows in profit £4 15s, springers £4 Bs, young steers and heifers £2 to £2 13s. Horses—Tliree-vear-old colt .by Te Kooti £25, aged draughts £6 to £lB 10s. Implements, harness, oats, etc., sold at full values. THE GRAIN MARKET.

The local markets are fairly quiet jtist now, and in sympathy with the decline in the price of wheat in Australia and. elsewhere, prices have gone back locally. Neither millers nor merchants are keen to buy at the present time, millers being pretty well stocked vp, and'some bought nothing for the past fortnight. A big shipment of wheat and oats—lß,ooo hags—was loaded this week at Timaru for Home. Holders of wheat are looking for 4s 3d, and some for 4s 6d, while others anticipate that 5s will be touched 1 efore next grain season, but the fact remains. that parcels which hare been offered during the week at from 3s 11*1 t« 4s 2d have failed to find buyers. There seems to be a pretty general opinion, however, that the market will shortly settle down at about 4s per bushel. On the oat market there lias I>eeii a slight improvement in prices. this being attributed to the fact that I? ere is a shortage of bags, which is ire-

venting, a good part of the Southland crop from being threshed. Reports from the south go to sliow that Drime milling oats there are worth, up to Is Sd. and fair quality feed sorts rp to Is'3d and Is 6d, f.0.b., s.i. To-day's quotations in Timaru, however, are Is 3d to Is oid for prime Gartons, lelivered at Timaru, and a penny less for Danish. There are very few oats offering locally. Flour is selling at £ll 10s, bran at £4 10s, and pollard at £5 10s. The potato market lacks animation, merchants being afraid to speculate in the tuber this year on account of the blight having played such havoc among the crops. One local buyer who agreed to purchase two lines this week, had to reject both, and generally speaking, they are coming to hand in very bad order. To-day's quotation is £2 10s per ton, f.0.b., but even at this low figure they have to be guaranteed five from blight. CHRISTCHURCH MARKETS. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, April 30. The English wheat market having become steadier, has given a better tone to the local market. At the beginning of the week buyers were disinclined to do business except at much lower rates than those of a week before. but only a few purchases were made at under 4s at country stations. Now the general buyers are again operating, both for local milling and for export, and prices are again firmer. Thongh a sale is reported at equal to 3s lOid, and 2800 bushels of Hunters at 3s lid at country stations, a fair quantity has changed hands at 4s, including two mixed lines, aggregating nearly 8000 bushels. Oats are hardly so firm and the demand is not so keen for immediate delivery for export.

•• ""'c' 1 .:■£ s»;d. £ s. d. Spirits 1096 13 2 1110 19 5 Perfumed ; 19- 8 Cigirs 14 0 0 132 3 Cigarettes ... 109 7 6 5 Tobicco. : 480 9 6 611 16 0 Xotnlun wine 39 17 8 43 0 8 Other kinds -... 6. 1 10 11 17 7 Alel- beer. - etc." 26 0 0 i * t to CJI ;o Goods by. weight— - "221 10 9 tariff 315 13 10 9 15 4 Goo&ad Talorem-:- -- ''General tariff '1202.16 > 0 1010 ■ 9. ' 6 : |I!ref. tariff... 21 8 6 58 15 6 Other duties not* specified abot tariff 20G 12 8 *518 16 1 'ftef. tariffV:. . 9 2 3 3 Totals ...... 3542 8 0 3757 7 7 9 Beer doty 181 14 9 202 11