COMMERCIAL.

Southland Times, Issue 18831, 26 May 1920, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

CLEARING SALE AT MENZiES FERRY.

Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co., Ltd., report having conducted a very successful clearing sale at Menzies Ferry on Friday last on behalf of Mr J..R. Hamilton, who has disposed of his farm. Despite the discomforts of a wet day, the attendance was good, and bidding was brisk throughout the sale. Following is a summary of prices:— Cattle—Dairy heifers, £l6. 15/-, MIG, £ls 15/-; bull, £7 15/-, 2 cull cows £2, 10 heifer calves £5 8/-, 17 steer calves £3 0/-, 0 do. £2 10/-. Horses—the. mare (aged) £ls 10/-, do. £9 5/-, hack £5. Implements Dray and frame £4O, do. £l7, spring dray £37, gig £24, ridger £3O, 3-f. plough £45, drill £24, roller £l9 10/-, cultivator £l7, discs £l2, ecufiler £9. A quantity of furniture and sundries also fetched satisfactory ptices. WYNDHAM HORSE FAIR. SATURDAY, MAY 22. Messrs Hunter Bros, and Rice report that only a medium yarding came forward, owing to the inclemency of the weather; nevertheless they managed to dispose of a good number at very satisfactory prices- The demand was chiefly for anything young and sound, and they could have placed more of these had they been available. Top price, £45, was paid for a nice 4yt-old mare vended by Mr John Fenton (Menzies Ferry;. Others realised as follows; —Gyr-old draught mares £32 and £29, light 4yr-oid mare £lB, 9yr-o!d mares £l7 (two), 6yr-old draught geldings at £3B, £35, and £2G; 7yr-old tlo. £2O, 4yr-old spring-cart gelding £l7 10/-, do. mares £l6, £ls 10/-, and other aged horses at from £lO to £6. Of sundries a waggon realised £ls, dray £ll, rustic cart £lO, and horse-covers, etc., went at full market rates. TOKANUI STOCK SALE. MONDAY, MAY 24. Messrs Henderson and Co., Ltd., report a small yarding of both sheep and cattle at above sale. There was not a very largo attendance of buyers; nevertheless, prices were on a par with those ruling at recent markets. Sheep.—We sold account W. J. Lee, 10 mixed-sex lambs at 25/1, 15 full-mouth ewes at 22/-; account Edwin Thomas, 25 sound-mouth ewes at 20/3. Cattle,—Account H. Bryant, heifer at £lO. CANTERBURY 11ARKETS. (Per United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, May 25. There was a now and rather important development in connection with the oat market to-day, viz., the sale for Australian consumption of several substantial lines of both oats and chaff. The feed position in New South Wales is so grave at present that there is little doubt, that practically all our oat and chaff production could be absorbed there without any difficulty at present prices, and it is; in this respect that the deal opens up rather wide possibilities. An immediate result will be a firming in the local prices. The sales recorded to-day were on the basis of 5/11. f.0.b., s.i.. for B grade Cartons, equal to 5/1 at country stations, and £lO 15/- equal to about £7 10/- at country stations) for chaff. Whilst lack of shipping is stagnating operations with the North Island, there is little likelihood of this trouble presenting itself with Australia.

The potato market is much depressed. Field? of ten tons and over are quite general, and Canterbury has had an unusually prolific crop. Should the Australian embargo bp continued for any length of time the result will be a probability of waste or low prices here. In the meantime farmers are putting through n fair amount of business here, none at £3 10/- to £3 15/- for immediate delivery. It is reported that onions arc freely purchasable on the ha-sis of £6 at country stations. The quality in cases is not very good, the onions having been left overlong in the open.

BANK OF AUSTRALASIA. Light is thrown on the recent quotation from Melbourne of Bank of Australasia £4O shares at £IOO (ex-dividend) as compared with an earlier ruling value of £l3O (cum div. of £18.) by the following extract from the address of the chairman of directors in London on March 25 last: “The present market value of our shares is about £l3O, at which price they return a purchaser £5 10/- per cent, free of tax. As for every five shares held now you will hold seven after the capitalisation. the equivalent value of the shares should then be fivesevenths of 130, that is, about 93. If we are able to pay 13 per cent, free of tnx, a purchaser at 93 will get a return of £5 12/psr cent, free of tax, which is not a bad return for an investment in a company of the stability, resources and possibilities of the Bank of Australasia.” It should ho explained that it was decided at the annual meeting in March to increase the capital from £2,500,000 to £3,500,000, issuing to the present shareholders 25,000 fully paid £4O shares pro rata, so that each shareholder would receive two additional £4O shares to every five previously held by him. The price now quoted, £IOO, marks an advance of .£7 on that anticipated by the chairman. At £IOO the shares, on a 13 per cent, dividend, will produce £5 4/- per cent. FROZEN MEAT EXPORTS. The following table, compiled from the latest official figures available, shows the yearly exports of frozen moat, from the Dominion during the war and post-war period;—

The average price per cwt has advanced from 36/- in 1914 to 50/- in 1919-20, an increase of 35.3 per cent.

NATIONAL TOBACCO CO., LTD. A company was registered in Auckland on May 5 under the title of the National Tobacco Company, Ltd., to enter business as manufacturers of tobacco and general incidental lines. The capital is £50,000 in £1 shares, and the original subscribers are E. Bond (Auckland) 200; R. Burns (Auckland) 200; L. A. Longutt (Auckland) 200; G. R. Bloomfield (Auckland) 200; G. P. Roach (Hastings) 200; 11. W. Amner (Napier) 200; A. G. Moon (Napier) 200; J. A. L. Hay (Napier) 200.

Year. Quantity Value. Calendar. vwt. £ 1914 .. .. .. 3,229,970 5,863,062 1915 .. .. .. 3,591,260 7,794,395 1916 .. .. . . 3,320,045 5,982,404 Ending March 31— 1917-1S .. .. 2,024,018 6,453,208 1918-19 .. .. 1,763,066 4,250,610 1916 .. .. 7,271,318 1917 .. .. . . 2,246,945 5,982,404