FARMING & COMMERCIAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 131, 26 February 1921, Page 10

FARMING & COMMERCIAL

NEWS AND NOTES

auction bales FORTHCOMING FIXTURES. TO-DAY. Martinborough Yards, 13 noon.—Ewe fair. Knight’s Road, Lower Hutt. 1 p.m.-Sale of cows and poultry houses (H. E. Leighton). MONDAY. 69 Herald Street, Berhampore, 10.30 a.m.— Sale of plumber’s stock and plant (Vino and Wilson). . Koputara Road, Himitangi, 12.30 p.m. Poultry sale (11. Palmer and Go.). Woodville Yards, 1 p.m.—Stock sale (Levin and Co.). TUESDAY. iLevin Yards, 12 noon.-Stock sale. 137 Lambton Quay, Wellington, 2 p.m.-iSale of furniture (Hodgkins, Oarver). LONDON WOOL SALES GENERAL DOWNWARD TENDENCY FIGH COMMISSIONER’S REPORT The Department of Agriculture bps received the following cablegram, dated February 22, from the High Commissioner for New Zealand, London: “Wpol sales commenced yesterday with free sales, of which 4703 bales Australian, 585 bales New Zealand, and 1887 bales River Plate offered. Good attendance, but bidding irregular and general tendency showed reduction on last sale’s prices of 10 per cent, to 15 per cent, merinos, and fine and medium crossbreds 10 per cent.; coarse crossbreds were not well competed for. About 85 per cent, offering sold. At Government sales which followed 'good (representative selections brought forward, including 4800 bales Australian and 1300 bales New Zealand. Competition hesitating and prices generally 10 P»r cont. to 15 per cent, below those realised at last Government sales, January 21, though at the reduction about 62 per cent, of offering sold. New Zealand may 'be quoted :-36 s to 40 s (coarse crossbreds), 7{d. to Bd. per lb., 44’s to 4G's (medium crossbreds), 8)d. 9d per lb.; 48’8 (fine crossbreds), 9-Jd. to'lOld per lb.; 50’s (halfbreds), lid. to Is. Id. per lb.; 56’s (halfbreds), Is. 2d. to" Is. 4d. per lb. . The next Government offerings will con-

“Five more sales free wool this series and total offering will be: —Australian, 30,000 bales; New Zealand, 10,000 b Cape of Good Hope dnd River Plate, 5000 bales. London, February 24. The wool sales, held on behalf, of the British-Australian Wool Realisation Association, and on behalf of “free ’ woolowners were continued. Merinos, suitable for America, were firmer under United 'States (competition. Combing soi-ts were mostly cleared, and prices were unchanged. Faultics were withdrawn. Good news slipe crossbreds were cleared at full opening rates; others were unchanged. Clothing slipes were firm, but combing slipes were mostly withdrawn. Realisations— "Collingwood, top price. 26d., average 25d.; "Woolhara, 37d. and 31d.; "Goonoogoonoo,” 19d. and 18d.; "Peakdowns.” 22d. At the sale of .British-Australian Realisation Association wool a good selection of merinos and crossbreds was off e J e ‘*- The reserves were slightly easier, and <0 Tier cent, of the offering was sold nt about yesterday's rates. The withdrawals were chiefly very burn sorts and low crossbreds. Realisations Tai> top price 28|d., average 27d.; 28d.; “Moonbi,” 20d.; Tuppal, -Old. and 191 d. The Bradford topp market is very flat > but quotations uro unchanged, and are merely nominal. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. HAURAKI show \ A GREAT SUCCESS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Thames, February 25. The inaugural show of the Hauraki Plains A. and P. Association was held at Ngatea yesterday, and was a, great success The stock entries exceeded 300, making the total entries 900. The judges expressed surprise and pleasure with the stock shown. Jerseys and Fnesiaus were very strong classes. COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Cußtoms rerent, collected at the port of Wellington yesterday totalled £1776. CANTERBURY MARKETS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Christchurch, February 25. Little business is still reported by merchants as far as produce is concerned. A fair quantity of wheat, however, is being taken delivery of by millers In same cases wheat has been rejected because of sprouting. The wheat now comine- to hand is described as of very fair quality. With regard to the Government price of wheat, it is understood among merchants that a conference to go into the question of fixing this will be held on Monday. Oats are -jtill as lifeless as possible., and In sympathy 'with this state of affairs business in chaff is likewise; Quite a lot of difficulty has been experienced fn getting bright barley, the majority of lines coming to hand being discoloured by the weather. Owinff to damage sustained by ryegrass

through the wet weather, a number of offers of from 2s. 6d. to 3s. per bushel have been made. Growers are dissatisfied with the prices offering for cocksfoot, and very little business is being done in this line. In some cases growers are holding quantities of last Reason’s seed. So far. inquiries from ths North Island have been disappointingly few. There is slackness in potato business forward sales being rare io far ns compared with previous seasons. COLONIAL AND OTHER PRODUCE. Australian-New Zealand Cable Association. London, February 24. Wheat and flour lire quiet and unchanged. Oat» beans, and peas are unchanged. Barley is easier. Australian Chevalier is quoted at about 7s. Sugar, granulated, 675. 6a. per cwt. BUTTER. AND CHEESE. London, February 24. Butter is selling well. It is now practicallv certnUi that the Government price will be reduced by at least fourpence in the middle of Maron. (•1,..,..,, i , firm. New Zealand white. IsGe. Io 148s'. per cwt.; coloured, 150 s. to 160 s. Tlie Government is offering 10,000 orates

of old Australian and New Zealand cheese, some eighteen months old. to importers, at 116 s. to 1265., according to condition. IONDON TALLOW SALES. London. February 23. At the tallow sales 200 1 casks were offered, and 1087 sold at late rates to one shilling per cwt. decline. This was most marked in superior qualities. Mutton, fine, per cwt.: medium, 385.; beef, fine, 495.; medium, 365. Messrs. Dalgety and Company, Limited, report having received the following cablegram from their London house, under date February 23:—"Tallow: 2000 casks offered, 1000 casks sold. La.to rates to Is. lower. Demand is chiefly fordow and inferior descriptions. Good colour mixed, 375.” LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. London, February 23. "British Broken Hill, buyers 155., sellers 17s. 6d.; Broken Hill, 395. M.; North Broken Hill, 245. id.; South Broken Hill, buyers 235., sellers 235. 3d.; Hampton, 7s.‘ld. (Rec. February 25, 5.5 p.m.) Londons February 24. Wa-ilii Grand Junction, buyers 7s. 10d., sellers, fls.-, Hampton, 7s. 3d. MELBOURNE PRODUCE MARKET. By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright. Melbourne, February 25. Barley, English. 4s. to 4s. 3d per bushel; Cape, 3s. to 3s. 3d. Oats. 2v. 6d. to 2s. 8d Potatoes. Carmens, £3 15s. to £5 per ton. Onions, £4 to £4 10s. per ton. HIDES SALES. Melbourne, February 25. At to-day’s sales largo supplies of hides were offered. Prices were unaltered for all heavies, but lower grades have declined Jd. to Id. per pound. EXCHANGE RATES. (Bee. February 25, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 24. Exchange rates on London are quoted as follow —Paris, 54.05 francs to £1; Stockholm, 17.33 kroner; Christiania, 22.23 kroner; Berlin. 238 marks; Montreal, 4.41 dollars; New York, 3.87) dollars; Calcutta, 16)d. to rupee: Yokohama, 293 d. to dollar; Hong-Kong, 29Jd. to dollar. PRICES OF METALS. (Rec. February 25, 10.45 p.m.) Lcndon February 24. Copper.—On spot, .£72 2s. 6d per ton; three months. £69 7s. 6d.; electrolytic ingots £73 10s.; wire b?rs, £7o 10s. Lead-On spot, £lB ss. per ton; three months, £l9. . ._ Spelter.—On spot, £26 10s. per ton; three months. £25 15s. Tin.—On spot. £l6B 15s. per ton; three months, £l7l 17s. 6d. Silver.—Bars. 32d. per ounce standard. MINING NEWS WELLINGTON SHARE MARKET. The following quotation was recorded in the mining market yesterday :— Buyers. Sellers. £ «. d. £ «• d. Waihi 1 7 4 “ STOCK EXCHANGE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. . Auckland, February 25. Sales—Bank cf New Zealand. 465. 9d.; Waihi, 28s.

EAST COAST TRIP

VISIT T® WAIKAREHOANA END OF PARLIAMENTARY TOUR By Teleeranh—Snecial Correspondent.. Napier, February 25. Yesterday, the touring M.P.’s had one of tho most delightful days of their journey. A beautiful morning followed the rain of the previous day, and it was in cheerful mood that the travellers sped up trie good road to Lake Waikaremoana, oils of the upepoiled and most perfect beauty epots of the Dominion. Tho 40-mile stretch of road is metalled for a good portion of the way, and except for a short piece near the Tourist Department’s accommodation house, is good for motor traffic in any weather. The road will soon be much better. Improvements are now being made by the Public Works Department to enable the heavy machinery and material for the hydro-elc.ctric scheme to be carted over it. Men are now at work widening corners, and before long new bridges will’ be built. The necessity of this preliminary work is realised wricn one knows that one piece of machinery will weigh 28 tons. After lunching at the Tourist Department’s accommodation house, the visitors were taken round Lake Waikaremoana on the launch. In exploring the arms of the lake the members of the party were shown where Major Ropota and his men of the Ngatiporaus, who were assisting the British forces, had their canoe swamped by heavy seas. These men. accustomed to paddling their canoes on the open sea, had been con-# temptuous of tlhe warning given by local Maoris, and so had the experiences of swimming ashore and afterwards diving for their rifles The Manaia Strait, across which Te Kooti and hie mon swam their horses, was passed through and at the head of one of the many cove s a landing was made-, Tffe' members were impressed with the importance of ilhe bushy hills, which form so important a par t of the'picture, being declared a scenic reserve. The local residents entertained the’ parfy with lavish hospitality that evenin" This morning the return journey was made to Wairoa, and after lunch the cars left’ on the eightymile run to Napier. The roads were quite dry again, but no imagination was required to enable everyone to realise the nature of the 20 miles of unmetalled road, which leads over the most atrocious series of ridges midway in the jour-n,°-r: , , Tl l is bad stretch will soon be obviated, however, by a deviation inland which give a much easier route. Hie formation of this road is being punned on by the Public Works Department and within 12 months it will probably be possible to motor from Napier to Wairoa on a good load.

This evening, the visitors were entertained by Mr. J. Vigor Brown, the Mayor, and representatives of the local bodies. To-morrow the party will Break up. It has been a wonderful tour, pleasant, and instructive. No sickness has occurred, and no mishaps. Everywhere the local residents extended The most open-handed and pordial, welcome-. At to-night's function.. Mr. S. M'Lefnon, of the East-Coast League, said that, while the local people were more particularly interested in their access needs in their immediate vicinity, they joined in advocating the needs of tho whole district.

Mr. I-lockly, replying, said that every member had stated definitely that lie would support the just claims of the whole of the East Coast, the size and fertility of which had been a revelation. There was no question that the district had been neglected in the past, and it must have better means of access. Mr. G. Witty spoke in similar strain.

eist of: — This week. Next week. Australia— Merino, greasy Bales. .... 9,450 Bales. 19,100 3,400 Merino, scoured Crossbred, greasy ... .... 3,200 10,200 Crossbred, scoured. •• .... 550 2,200 New Zealand— Crossbred, greasy .... 2,550 8,350 Crossbred, scoured ... .... 1,650 27HOO Crossbred, aliped .... 1,400 2,950

Yesterday’s quotations for investment shares were as follow:Buyers. Sellers. £ a. d. £ 8. d. Inscribed Stock, 1938 — 86 10 0 Inscribed Steck. 1953 89 0 0 90 0 0 War Bonds, 1938 ■— 86 10 0 War Bonds, 1933 89 0 0 90 0 0 Bank Australasia 82 10 0 86 0 0 National Bank 5 13 6 Bank New Zealand — 2 7 3 Abraham and \V iiliams — 6 5 0 Abraham and William 5 1 0 Goldsbrough Mort 1 15 « Nat. Mortgage (local) ... —• 4 10 0 N.Z. and River Plate ... — 0 19 0 Well. Gas (£10) — 10 12 6 Well. Gao ((pref.) — 0 17 0 — 7 10 0 N.Z. Insurance — 1 6 3 South British Insurance —— 1 14 0 Standard Insurance 2 6 0 2 7 6 N.Z. Refrieeratiner (lOs.l . —- 0 19 t» Meat Export (£3 12s. 6d.) 3 13 0 4 2 I) Huddart-Parker (ord.) 2 2 9 2 4 3 Tnupir* Coal (ord.) 0 17 n Westport Coal 1 8 0 Waipa Coal 0 14 0 0 15 0 N.Z. Paper Mills 1 8 6 Wairarapa Farmers (£5) —— 6 5 0 Wnirarnna, Farmers (pref.. — 1 n 0 Ward and Co — 1 3 0 Wellington Cordage — 1 1 0 Wilson’s Cement — 0 16 2 CUSTOMS REVENUE.