MARKET REPORTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6130, 17 March 1898, Page 1

MARKET REPORTS.

ADDIXGTOX. There were lavgo entries in all classes of stock at the Addington market yesterday, . and business throughout showed a healthy tone. The attendance was. a large and representative one. Entries for the day comprised 19,86$ sheep and lanibs, 442 head of cattle and 735 pigs. Fat cattle were represented by 202 head, including some very,nice lines of prime steers ; about twenty from Mr E. H. Ehodes, of Gray cliffs, averaging £7 los, and a. couple of oxtra prime bringing 15s and ijlO. The presence of a couple of butchers from the other side of the Eangitata made matters pretty lively, during the earlier part of the sale, and they secured nearly fifty head. When their wants were satisfied, however, prices dropped back to about last week's level. Prices realised were :— "Prime steers £7 to £8 10s, secondary do £4- 10s to .£6 10s, good heifers £5 to .€6 10s, secondary do £3 10s to M los, good cows £4 10s to £6 ss, secondary do =62 los to £4. Prices per 1001 b were much about the same. The dairy, cow 6 contained very few really good cows and springers, and business was very dull, .£5 7s 6d being the highest price obtained. The store pens were well filled, but the bulk of the youngsters were of the weediest description, aud the only sales made were of a few of this class for the Peninsula, at prices which could not possibly pay the growers. There was a good entry of fat sheep, including some nice lines of freezers and young ewes, but there was too much inferior ewe mxitton for requirements. The demand for freezers was very fair, and wethers of this class were readily taken at from 10s 6d to 12s 7d ; a line of 630 from Highfield bringing 12s Id, and some butchers' heavy sorts selling at up to 1 3s Od. Maiden ewes and wethers brought from 10s 9d to 11s 6d, and maiden ewes from 8s to to 9s lOd. The demand for trade ewes was very fair at the opening of the sale, but as soon as requirements were satisfied there was little or no bidding, and a good many lines were turned out unsold, vendors declining to sell at the prices offered. Good young ewes brought from 8s -to 10s 7d, a pen of cross-bred Downs bringing 10s 4d, and • a pen of pure-bred Downs from Messrs Eeid, of Elder3lie, 13s Id; medium ewes brought from 6s to 7s 6d, and aged sorts from 3s 6d to ss ; merino wethers 4s 9d, and do ewes from.. 25. .1 d to 3s lid. Fat lambs' came forward in rather smaller numbers, and"the '"'entry contained very little that was choice.. Freezing buyers seemed to have fixed their limit at 10s 6d, and a considerable number were taken at from that price down to 9s, butchers' sorts fetching from 7s to 9s and backward lines from 4s 6d upwards. The yarding of store sheep was an exceptionally large one, including some large lines of staticn sheep, some of which came from as far south as Oamaru, and others which had been- in some of the country sales. There was a fair demand for wethers for topping off, bijtf '.they were disposed of at & drop on prices ruling a week or two ago, and good young breeding ewes met a fair sale, but those of uncertain ages and backward lambs were hard to quit. Amongst the sales were 260 four-tooth wethers at 9s 6d, 750 do (from Oamaru) at Bs, 640 twotooth do at 6s lid, 1000 six and eighttooth ewes at from 7s to 8s Id, two-tooth pure Lincoln ewes at 11s 9d, 550 three-quarter-bred sound-mouth ewes at os Id to 5s 3d, mixed two-tooths at from 6s to Bs, six and eight-tooth ewes from 7s to Ss Id, aged ewes from 2s 6d to 2s 9d, boilers from Is 5<3 to 2s 7d, forward lambs from ss' to 6s 6d, and backward and weedy sorts from 3s to 4s 6d. All good young wethers and ewes met a fair demand, but aged sorts and weedy lambs were not in request. Pigs came forward in strong force, the bulk of the yarding being fat sorts. The sale for these dragged a little at first, but soon recovered, and before the close last week's prices were fully maintained. Baconers brought from 38s to G2s (a line of 20 from Eangiora fetching 565, and 48 from Barry's Bay 535), porkers 25s to 37s 6d, stores 14s 6d to 28s.