COMMERCIAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1279, 13 June 1884, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

Ashburton Guardian Office, Friday Afternoon. The followio|»s the Christchurch Com Exchange report fqp.the week endi. g Friday, the 13th instant: —The continued depression in wheat is most disheartening to the producers, who may.be said to be hoping against hope. Cablegrams from the London market have become so monotonous that those interested on this side of the globe have begun to look for them in each day’s issue of the papers with a degree of despondency, which, bids fair .to extinguish the expectations of even the most sangmqe, : The., prices - offered in the local mwclt are such as- to preclude much business being done, indeed they are equivalent to the announcement that buyers decline even to operate tor the present. There has been, as stated in,our last week’s report, a few spasmodic enquiries for intercolonial trade, which can be readily supplied without many way interring vrith v.'lues. Oats are not quite so firm, although former quotations .are still upheld. In barley the market is quiet, showing no. prospect of change for the lime being Beans and peas have been in no way affected since' last report, while potatoes are very' slightly in better request. There is no alle-'a-tion to report in dairy produce. Quotations are as f Hows: -Wheat; Sound Tuscan, 3c 3d; pearl, 3s 2d; Hunter’s white, 3s tB 3s in ; damp and seconds, 2s to 2s 6d. Oats : Milling 2s 4d; short bright feed, 1,2 s 2 to 2s •3d'j. fnferier and discolored, is 8d to is lod. Barley : Prime malting; 4s ; second quality, 3s 3d.Up3&, 6d; feed, 2to 2s 3d- Peas : Sound and clean Blue Piussian, 3s 6d; giey or dun, 2s pd to 3s. Beans, 2s pd to- 3s. Potatoes, 27s 6d tO 30s at country stations within a radios of twevle miles, Butter and cheese :8d

to gd for the former, and 4% d to 5d for the latter. With the exception of barley and potatoes die above are all quoted as paid to farmers When delivered f.o.b, at Lyttelton.

Messrs H. . Matson and Co report on the i . live Stock market, etc., for the week ending Thursday, June 12th, 1884,-as follows:—For yesterday’s market a medium supply of fat sheep cape to hand —just a fair en.ry, sufficing to meet the requirements of, the day, and (with the past sale or so of the same character in point of numbers) to give a slightly better ' tone to tTAde. Tor inferior and second quality mutton prices remain unchanged, but the best, wethers, in the majority of cases, certainly commanded more conpetition yesierday than for some weeks past, and sold at an advance of 6d to is per head, the first upward tendency we have had for months. It would perhaps be correct to say that this improvement was but partial, applying only to the best and heaviest Kite of wether sheep, an advantage that will probably be reversed at the first heavy market * unless a better demand for export sets in. Fat ewes at the .present time, through over-supply, are experienciiig a bad trade, X2s to 13s, and for very heavy weights to 14s, being the market rate, equal to about 2d per lb ; prime wethers we quote at a shade over 2j£d. Merino wethers also form a considerable proportion of the weekly numbers, but up to now very lew choice consignments have come to . r—•, ti.c--Addington maxKtt for merinos teaches us thatto command - anything like a satisfactory sale sheep of this r' class must .be really prime, in which case they will realise a rate per lb equal to crossbreds, otherwise the result invariably proves unprofitable to the owner and ’unsatisfactory to the agent. This in ' a great measure has been the case this season, as owing to the. turnip crop not holding out as well as expected, large nnmbeis of i.. : merino wethers have been placed on the market earlier than was intended, their condition has been what may 5 be termed threequarter fat; and the price was generally from ys fid to 9s.- No doubt the large supplies of medium quality crossbred mutton and the .downward tendency of the markets generally have to a certain extent been the cause of those low prices, but in a greater measure the reason may be traced to the fact of the sheep not being properly finished out. In stores the market just-noW is particularly weak, but reduced as prices certainly are, owing to the decline in the value of fat sheep, they are to some extent brought about by the inferiority of the stock coming to hand, which for the roost part are veritable culls of (he various classes. What has also played such havoc with the flocks has been the wet season (we do not refer to the past month or she weeks) causing ; the sheep to breed “ foot rot ” to an alarming extent, and as a natural consequence to lose their condition. This evil has now become so general that to find a hue of sheep free from the disease is the exception instead of the rule; this also helping to check any disposi- . tidn there might Otherwise be to purchase. In fat sheep, of our entry we placed on account of Mr Stewart, six-iooih crossbred wethers at 19s, the lop price for the day, and for the same owner about ■ 300 crossbreds at from 14s for four-tooth wethers, ewes up to 16s and’ 16s fid for nice quality htilAbred withers. On account of Mr Budd we sold 166 merino wethers at 7s gd to 9s, for Mr Milne crossbred ewes at 12s 3d, , for Mr Kinley 130 crossbred ewes at 14s fid to 14s' yd, for Mr A. Humphries 170 mixed crossbreds at 145 to 14s fid, account Mr H, Overton crossbred ewes at 14s 3d to 14s gd, account Mr Mason mixed crossbreds at 13s to 14s fid, account Mr A. McLeod crossbred ewes at 12s 6d to 13s, stores for the same owner at 6s 6d, merino wethers for Mr Prebble at Bs, etc* Of beef about an average quantity was penned, most of which found buyers at unaltered rates. In the demand th:re was an absence of any spirit or real competition, the various lots being placed at about 163 to 18s per loolb, according to quality. On account of Mr F. Tavender we sold 14 head of light weight heifers at from L 5 to L 6 2s fid per ’ head, and ‘for various others about 30 head of mixed cattle at from I 4 10s to L 8 ss, equal to the rates per loolb quoted above. In store cattle business is about as quiet as it well can be, the bulk of the lines under ofler yesterday —including a big draft of very good steers—going out unsold. Dairy stock proves the only exception to these remarks, a number of which 'we placed at fair prices. At this time of th year there is usually an inquiry for good dairy cows, and the same may now be quitteiat fron) t. sto LlO, according to description. On account of Mr Feather, of the Ashley, we sold • 5 useful springing heifers at an average of about I*7 10s each, and for Messrs Moorhouse, Taylor and ethers, cows from L 6 to Lio. The pig trade continues as brisk as ever, with a failing oft rather than j increase in the supply. So keen is the competition for the heavy classes sent, the present number could be increased to any extent, and placed weekly, without in any way reducing values, 1