Commercial

New Zealand Tablet, 13 August 1914, Page 29

Commercial

produce

.. London, August 10. The wheatv market is disorganised. £2 5s being asked for Australian, and for off the coast 42s fid is bid. ' • .7 Flour has been reduced 3d per -stone. Cheese is very firm. New Zealand, 75s to 80s. Traders advise that the consignment of all foodstuffs at war risks can ensure the sale immediately of any quantity once the name of the ship is known. In the Bradford wool market there is nothing doing,, but the tone is satisfactory. Rabbits.—Market very firm. Australian store. Is 7d. 7 New Zealand Meat.—Sheep, 5d per lb ; do. ewes, 4 £ d. \ . New* Zealand Lambs. — Canterbury light, 7d; seconds, light and medium,'63d ; Southland and North Island, 61d. New Zealand Beef. —Forequarters, sld : hindquarters, 7d. ~ Wheat. -There is more inclination to trade, but practically nothing is offering in Mark Lane. Australian flour in store, 35s to 40s.

Messrs. Donald Reid and Co., ’Limited, report: We held our weekly auction sale of grain and produce at our stores on Monday, when values ruled as under : Oats.— We submitted a fair catalogue of feed lines, all of which met with good competition at prices about 2d per bushel in advance of late quotations. The demand is chiefly for good to prime quality, but nearly all classes are readily saleable. Prime milling, 2s to 2s 14d; good to best feed, Is lid to 2s; inferior to medium. Is 8d to Is lOd per bushel (sacks extra). heat. —The quantity on offer js small. Millers -in most cases hold fair stocks and are not disposed to give the advanced prices asked by vendors. ’ There is, however, a strong demand for good seed lines, which are selling at 4s 9d to 5s for machine dressed lines. Millers’ limits are about 4s 5d to 4s 6ld. Fowl wheat is scarce, and best quality commands 4s to 4s 3d ; other sorts, 3s 6d to 3s lOd per bushel (sacks extra). Potatoes.—Consignments are not so heavy, and although values have not made any decided advance, there is a better tone in the market. Prime freshly-picked lots have most demand, and are saleable at £3 15s to £4 ; medium to good, £3 5s to £3 10s; others, £2 10s to £3 per ton, (sacks included). Chaff.—Prime oaten sheaf, which is not plentiful, meets ready sale. Lower grades are not in favor, and can- only be placed in reduced quantities. Best oaten sheaf, £3 5s to £3 10s; choice black oat, to £3 12s 6d ; medium to good, £2 15s to £3 2s 6d ; light and discolored, £2 5s to £2 10s per ton (sacks extra).

Messrs Stronach, Morris, and Co., Ltd., report for week ended Tuesday, 11th inst., as follows: Rabbitskins, sheepskins, hides, tallow and fat. —Owing to the European situation all sales have been postponed for probably, two months. Oats.—Not many are offering, but all lines are saleable at an advance on late values. Quotations: Prime milling, 2s to 2s lid; good to best feed, Is lid to 2s per bushel (sacks extra). Wheat. There is very little milling wheat under offer, and millers are not prepared to give the advances asked for by vendors. Seed lines are in strong demand. Quotations:. Prime milling, 4s 5d to 4s fid ; seed lines, to ss; fowl wheat, 4s to 4s 3d; inferior, 3s fid to 3s IQd per bushel (sacks extra). Chaff.— is a. faildemand for prime oats sheaf. Medium quality is still hard of sale. Quotations: Best oaten sheaf, £3 5s to £3 10s; medium to good, £2 15s to £3 2s fid; light and discolored, £2 5s to £2 10s per ton (sacks extra). Potatoes. Consignments have not been so heavy, but there is only a medium demand. ; Choice lines are saleable at £3 15s to £4; 1 good, £3 5s to £3 ,10s; medium, £3 to £3 5s per ton (sacks in). '

WOOL AND SKIN SALES POSTPONED. * v ' , t As mentioned in Tuesday's issue (says the Evening Star), the wool and skin brokers doing business in Dunedin have met and unanimously decided to'postpone all auction sales of wool, sheepskins, tallow, rabbitskins, hides, etc., until further notice. This action was prompted by the rapidly decreasing demand for these by-products. It is unlikely that the sales will be resumed until after the London skin sales, which are fixed to take place towards the end of September. In discussing the position with a member of a firm doing a large business in these by-products, a representative of this paper ascertained that the prices ruling for hides especially have been almost phenomenally high in this city, as much as £3 per hide having been secured. The average of butchers’ hides may bo said to be £2 each. This has induced a large volume of business from the North Island,. heavy consignments coming from Wellington for each weekly sale. The trade in hides has been almost a Dominion one for some considerable time, as values were too high to permit of Australian competition. i EXPORTATION OF CEREALS. At a meeting of the Southland League Executive Council on August 10 the President (Mr. W. D. Hunt) drew attention to the proclamation prohibiting the export of all cereals, including oats. He said that he could not help thinking that the proclamation had been issued without duo consideration, and that it'was a mistake that this was a producing country, and if they were going to prohibit the export of-foodstuffs so that the people of the Dominion might have plenty a wrong means was being taken to accomplish that end. He considered that from the point of view of patriotism it was wrong that all foodstuffs should be locked up in this country, when they would perhaps be urgently needed in other parts of' the Empire. The only way to increase the amount of grain being produced was to make it profitable for farmers to. grow it. He knew a great many farmers who had enough oats to last them for two years, and they did not intend to sow any this season. To . grow oats would be to defeat their own object unless they were allowed to export. Mr. John McQueen said he was entirely in accord. He did not think that the Government should interfere in this matter at all. The only consideration that would induce farmers to go in for anything was whether it would pay them or not, and he believed that plenty of people could be induced to grow grain if the prices were allowed to rise. Mr. Hunt moved that the meeting express its opinion that .tl\o. Government had made a mistake, and that a letter be despatched stating the reasons for that view. : Mr. A. F. Hawke seconded the motion, which was carried.