COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 117, 23 July 1875, Page 5

COMMERCIAL.

Mr. A. Mbbobb reports for the -week ending July 22, retail priceß only : — Fresh butter, 2s 2s to 2a 4d per lb ; powdered and salt butter, Is lOd. The supply of fresh butter still continues scarce, and not neor enough to supply the market ; there is plenty of salt butter, and selling well. Cheese, beet quality, scarce, Is 2d per lb ; side bacon,, la 3d ; rolled bacon, Is 2d ; beef ham, lOd j Colonial ham, Is 4d ; English ham, Is 8d to la 9d ; eggs, plentiful, retailing at 2s per dozen. Me. Skeene reports for the week ending July 21 : — The demand for good hands of all kinds haß been beyond the supply for some time back. No use saying men are going idle ; the work is waiting for them, but a great many hare come here lately who never did hard work, and moreover express their determination not to do it here. "What will they do ? Only add to our criminal class. Of course the labor market will purify itself, and the right sort of men and women will come to the top. But at present employers do not take servants with that same confidence as of old. There is no denying the fact that our female helps are far back in training, and know little of plain household duties. A school for cooking planted in our midst would bo a godsend. The building trade is wonderfully active for the dead of winter. We can now do with the people due from home, especially for road, rail, station, and farm. Wages : Cooks, waiters, grooms, &c', 205., 305., to 60s. per week ; hou3e and hotel girls from £26 to £52 per year; couples, for stations, hotels, and farm £65 to £130 ; ploughmen and shepherds, £52 to £70 ; carpenters, 10s, 12s, and 13a per day ; station and dairy lands, 10s, 15s, and 20s per week ; storemen and clerks still quiet. Mb. Henry Drives, on behalf of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, reports as follows for the week ending July 21 :— Fat Cattle. — The small supply of 83 head was yarded at tho weekly Bale, which were almost entirely of inferior quality. Every pen was taken by the trade at an advance upon our late quotations. Any lots of good quality coming forward will command ready sale at prices considerably in advance of late quotations. We quote best quality beef at 35s per 1001b3., fair to ordinary 27s 6d to 30s. At the yards wo sold 40 head on account of Messrs. M'Donald and others, and have, during the week, sold for forward delivery 425 head. Fat Calves. — Very few were penned, which brought extreme rates, say up to 65s for good vealers. Fat Sheep — The market continues to be supplied with sheep of good quality, and in greater numbers than the trade are able to take. To-day about 3,500 were penned, of which only about 1,400 were sold, the balance held over for next week. Ilalf-breds, best quality, brought; from 17s 3d to 203 ; merinos, 8s 9d to 10s. The present excessive supply cannot continue for long at this season of the year, and we anticipate that in a few weeks good quality sheep will be more difficult to obtain. At the yards we sold 300 cross-breds at quotations, and ]xt\YO placed -100 for private delivery. We quote the nominal price of cross-breds at 4d per lb. ; merinos, 3d. Store Catt'e are in good request and difficut to obtain, there being few or none in the market of the description required by i graziers. Grown bullocks and cows are saleable at from £o 10s to £7 i'or former, and £4 to £5 for latter ; mixed herds, from 50s to £k During tho week I have sold 050 head at above rates. Store Sbcep. — We have no alteration to make in our late quotations for various descriptions. Wool. — We have cablegrams per Otago to the 10th inst., attending to tho healthy stale of the wool trade, that recent failures hare not affected it. By 'Frisco mail, to hand this afternoon, we hare further catalogues of prices at May sales, which confirm previous advices per cablegrams most prominent in all, long combing descriptions, whether in grease or washed, showing an advance in cross-breds of 2d per lb., and placing those wools relatively 2d per pound above the value of merino wool in the same clip aiid from the same run. Sheepskins. — Our usual weekly sale, last Thursday was well attended by buyers, who eagerly competed at considerable advance in price from the previous week. We sold 1,000 skins, butchers' green cross-breds bringing from os 7d to 7s ea''h ; merinos, 3s 6d to 3s 10c! ; dry cross-bivds, 3s Id to 5s Id ; merinos, full wool, 5s lOd ; short wool, 2s 5d to 3s 3d. Ilides. — A large supply of hides last week made the market a little easier, so thai the extreme rales of the previous week were nob , obtainable. We disposed of 250 at full rates, no very heavy weights being in our catalogue. Buf-chera* green bides, 22s 6d to 23s 9d ; wet salted good medium weights, 20s to i2s Gd ; inferior and light, 17s to 18s Gd ; yearlings, 83 to 12s ; calf, 2s 9d to 3s 60. each. j Tallow. — We have disposed of a few tons of country rendered afc I from £2G to £28 10s for fair quality, and £23 for inferior. I Grain. — Wheat is in moderate demand at 4s 2d to 4s 4d for faix' ,to good milling ; extra, 4s Gd ; inferior, 4s. Fowls' feed very scarce, jto supply which dealers take inferior milling up to 4s. Oats have 1 been more inquired for by shippers, but rates offering are below I holders' limits, a.:d at present there is no disposition on their pant to relax their firmness to hold, in anticipation of better prices ruling. We quote 2s 8d to 2s 9d for good iced, and 2s lOd to 2s lid milling. j For the huter sales are slow. Barley for malting — scarcely any offer1 ing, tho seasou'b crop being mobtly in brewers' stock. Our quotations arc unchanged : best malting, ss. Gd to 63 for very choice j secondary, 5s ; milling iv fair demand,, from Is lo -1.-; 4&.