COMMERCIAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1261, 4 November 1884, Page 3

COMMERCIAL.

AUCTIONEERS’ REPORTS TIMARU.

Messrs Jonas and Bourn repo rt as fol lows :

The cattle show as usual has oaused a slight increase in general business, and in orders to be booked for future execution, but as is generally the case, a briskness in sales of horses of all descriptions, and more especially in draught stock, has been the result of tbe large influx of visitors to the town.

For months past but little has been done in sales of draught horses ; that is so far as stock of a superior description goes, their sales of the Clydesdale stallions Strathmore and Young Wellington, pert haps alone excepted. When, therefore, it was announced through the medium of your paper, that Mr Robert Matthews, the well-known breeder of Clydesdales, whose property the two entries abovenamed were, had been so pleased with the result of thpir successful efforts in selling thepi, that he had placed the whole of his stud mares in their hands for disposal, those who knew what stock he had raised, and how fortunate he had been in carrying off prizes and cups at the different agricultural shows, looked forward fP thp day of uifh some exi pectation, hoping perhaps to secure soma of his mares or fillies at a low price, or waiting to see the result of the sale to see whether they should breed really heavy draught stock or go in for a different stamp of animal. The mares in question at the late show attracted considerable attention and favorable comments, several beipg wheq op Thursday last they were led into the sale yard, a crowd of admirers quickly gathered them. Punctually at 11 o’clock the auctioneers commenced to sell, and after disposing of some half-dozen useful draught geldings passed on to Mr Matthews’s draught mare Violet. “ Old Violet,” as she wag affectionately called by the WW who knew her and fhe excellent stock which she is the dam, is a well-bred mare, and altogether a grand stamp of a Clydesdale. Biddings opened at 50 guineas, and after some competition she was secured by Mr A, Hayes, a great bargain, at 94

guineas. The bay mare Highland Mary, yot by Baronet out of Violet, was the next on the list, and the biddings again commenced at 50 guineas, from which price she was run to 112 guineas by several admirers, being finally secured by Mr W. Stoddart, of Christchurch. Lady Don, a bay mare out of Highland Mary by Glenroy, was started at 65 guineas, and finally fell to the nod of Mr James Austin, of Winchester, at 100 guineas. Queen of the Bankers, a three-year-old chestnut filly by Young Banker out of Violet, much admired as the very model of a draught mare, was put in at 50 guineas. 80 guineas followed at once, and then 100, from which by five guinea biddings she ran to 125 guineas, going at that price to Mr Wm. Stoddart, who certainly is to be congratulated on his acquisition. A bay filly, Young Highland Mary, by Young Banker out of Highland Mary, was warmly received, the biddings speedily running from sixty guineas to one hundred and sixty-five, at which figure she was nearly secured by a Christchurch bidder, but Mr McQoverin, of Messrs Hardie and McGovetin, of the Hook, dropped in with a bid of one hundred and seventy guineas, at which price he obtained the gem of the sale, and one of the grandest mares in the colony. A promising young filly, out of Lady Don by Young Wellington, went to Mr Andrew Martin, of Makikihi, at forty guineas, and another by Young Wellington from Highland Mary, to Mr William Stoddart, at the same figure. A three-3'ear-old filly, Maggie, bred by Mr Arthur Perry, of Storcroft, and which took second prize in Class 116 at the late show, was sold at thirty-two guineas to a breeder, and Dawn of Day, a yearling colt, the first prizetaker in Class 110, bred by the same gentleman, was knocked down at twenty-two guineas—a bargain to the purchaser, Mr K. Wylie, of Dunedin. Mr William Paul’s team of geldings sold at £ls, £24 and £26 each, and other draughts at £l2 to £lB. The sale of half a dozen hacks at from £8 to £l2 each closed the day’s sale. The auctioneers congratulate the purchasers of the pedigree draught stock on their bargains, as never before in South Canterbury has such good stock been offered, and they feel assured that by careful breeding from the mares that have now passed from Mr Matthews’s hands, the class of draught stock they sea constantly coming under the hammer will in the course of a few years be greatly improved, and Mr Matthev/s’s success as a breeder will stimulate others to follow his example, as a well-bred staunch good horse costs no more to keep than a scrubber, and it has the advantage of commanding something like a fair price. To-day’s sale was of the usual order, a little flatter perhaps than ordinarily. About half a dozen horses changed hands at market values.

Of properties submitted the 480 acres of freehold land known asStonyer’s farm was bought by Colonel Eicb bantu for £3OOO. The other properties were all passed in, biddings falling short of owners’ reserves.