COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4930, 10 January 1877, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

The Customs duties received St this port yesterday were ns under g & s . d . Spirits.. ..ICS 72 I Goods by wght 1714 4 Wine .. .. H4lO Ad valorem .. J 9o 8 | Other duties.. 019 0 Tea " .. 162 861 ’ Ued) :: 30 161 Total.. .6403 1 3 goldsr.hough’s Wool.—The season Ims continued fu £?P c "“°" 29th ultimo, but at the late sales vasbed n not been quite so firm, and A t . lt i 01 i a iy and E&sssesSig laid ou to'tivite about 1500 bales more if the reqmred able duUngthe coming month, as large quantiticsbaye still tocome in and the warehouses continue well filled. The wooH now offering -differ to »ome extent from those submitted earlier in t be.seasonthebulk of the supply which remains available, consisting chietiy o washed fleece from the western portion of the colony, where the shearing is late, and of , a greasy from the more remote northern stations, lire Ssnal ouantity offering is being supplemented by consignments from New South Wales via Sydney, also from Queensland, South AusUalia. Taf nan a. and New Zealand. A widely extended field of opera lions is thus being opened out, and it seemLS^-ool that Melbourne will ere long becomo the Bveat oo depot for the Australian colonies. The extensive accommodation, the improve • .. for conducting the business, and, above all, be large selection of the best wooE available for sale at this port have comtancd to attract buyers from the chief manufacturing ■ centres of the world to the auction sales here, and this concentration of the trade u dug appreciated in the neighboring colonics, conse - quently consignments are gradually but surely being diverted in this direction. Over SOO 000 bales are annually shipped from this port, which is nearly half the entire yield of Australia, Tasmania, and New /Zealand - and these 300,000 bales include_ the largest proportion of the best wools. The American buyers have not been slow to recognise this, and theyl'ay 0 this season confined their operations almost ■exclusively to Melbourne, being satisfied that here they g-t the clips best suited to their reqmrmneiits. Tlus direct trade with America has now continued without intermission fer six years, notwithstanding the almost prohSl? duties; and if the proposed modifications Fn the tariff can be earned into a creased intercourse will result, as they can here get a first selection of the choicest flocks in Our advices from the inland districts aie 011 the whole favorable, but the extreme hot weather which has succeeded the rainfall advised last , a considerable extent, nullified its gooiyeffects. and the country is in places again becoming parched, though not toa greatextent. The fall was'too late to be productive of much advantage so far as feed * s concerned. the hot sun at this season frequently doing up any spring of grass and herbage; altogether, however, prospects are fairly satisfactory for the new year. Prices Current.— Greasy: Inferior, 7d to Sd , ordinary to average. Bd to 101(1; good to , 3U P® n ° r - 1 1 a l( ], to IsUd. Fleece, washed: Inferior, Is -d to Is 4d , ordinary to average, la 4d to Is 6d ; average to good. Is Cd to Is 9d : superior, Is lOd to 2s 4d. Scoured . Inferior, Is to Is 2d: ordinary. Is 2d to ls‘4d; middling to good. Is 5d to Is 8d: superior, IsDd to ~s. Summary of wool sales from commencement of season, October IS, to date:- Bales Sales. Offered. Sold. E.Goldsbtough&Co. Melb-rne 17 41,440 35.550 Hastings, Cumngham & Co. do 9 18,878 IMS J. H, Clough & Co. .. do 9 8,893 7,208 Monckton Synnot • ■ , do I 5-|;i * -iS, Dennys, Lascelles & Co., Geelong 8 8,523 7,4 ; 0 Geo. Synnot & Co. do 8 7< o2 6,003 Buckland & Burnett do 8 l,!bl l,ußo E. Mellish & Co. do J 3 1.5 a? IM7 73 92,809 77,639