COMMERCIAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2188, 14 April 1891, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

TIMARU MARKETS.

The Canterbury Farmers' Association, Limited, report as under: — Wheat —The market shows a further advance on last week's quotations, owing to the probable shortage in Australia, and cables from Home adding a further advance there. Several fairly large: lines have been offered during -the->week, and have all found buyers. Present values are 3s 8d to 3a 9d for tuscan ; 3s 7£d to 8s 8d for velvet and pearl; 35,7 d to 3s 7|d for red chaff; whole fowl wheat, 3a to 3s 9d>; seconds, 2s 8d to 3s. Oats-i—Milling sorts are very dull of Bale. Feed sorts are selling principally lor shipment to the Horth Island and the West Coast, at from Is od to Is 6d for bright heavy danish ; Is 3d to Is 4d for medium; is' 2d to la 3d for inferior ; seed tartars, Is 6d; duns, Is sd. Barley—Dull of sale, and difficult to find buyers at sellers' ideas-of values. . Prime malting, 2s 8d to 3s; inferior and feed barley, 2s 3d to 2s 6d nominally, sacks in, Potatoes —Sales are being made at 40s, £o b., for immediate delivery, but growers of large quantities in moat instances prefer holding to selling at that price.

AUCTIONEERS' REPORTS. jTIMAKU. Mr K, R f Guinness, for t ho New Zealand Loon and M-rcaotile Agenry Company, Limited, reports for the week ending Aprifll h : Sheep—lt was generally supposed five or six weeks ago that there were not enough sheep in the district to meet£grlzi,ng'requirements. By the enormous entries sent forward at the different sales throughout the country, it will showhow utterly wrong this theory was. ; The want of rain has caused the pastures to dry up, and many of the turnip crops are reported to be suffering from drought and blight. The demand and prices and is fast delining, which is very disappointing. Cattle—Very small entries of both fat and stores have come forward at the various skies. The market is at present well supplied with beef, and no in prices can be quoted, fctores are almost unsaleable just now, except for well-grown steers for winter feeding. Temuka Yards—ln conjunction with Mr A C° x on the 24th ult there was 'a full entry, large attendance, \vith very satisfactory sale, as follows: —IS* fab crossbreds at 13s 9d, 100 fat half bred ewes 8s lOd, 200 halfbred 7s lOd. 51 crossbred ewes 9s, 168 Laifbred ewes 9s, 45 fat crossbred «wes 10a 9d, 110 crossbred lambs 8s 3d, 200 prime 2 and 4 tooths 14s, 345 halfbred lambs 8s 9d. Pigs from 7a 6d to 10s 6d ; small entry, and only a few sold. . On the 7th instant a fair entry, with a dull sale. We disposed of the following lines:—l47 2-tooth fat crossbreds at 13s 3d, 100 halfbred ewes 10b 9d, 79 halfbred ewes 7s lOd, 283 halfbred ewes 65,,

33 fat crossbred ewes 10a 9d, 10 English Leicester rams atx4 guineas, 2 do at 2f guineas, 2 do at 1 £ guineas, and 5 do do at 10s 6d. Geraldine Yards—On the Ist inst, in conjunction with Mr A E Cox, there was a large entry of all sorts. The Bale was, considering the dry weather, good, although a drop was noticeable, especially in old crossbred ewes and lambs. The following sales were effected by us at auction :—l2O 4-tooth half bred ewea at 10s Id, 832 ! sound merino ewes 5s 6d, 30,fat merino ewes 6s 7d, 191 4,6, and 8 tooth halfbred ewes l]s, 170 6 and 8 tooth threequarterbred ewes 12s 2d, 100 halfbred lambs 8s lid, 33 2-tjotb crossbreds 10s 3d, 46 lambs Bs, 278 merino ewes|43, 44 crossbred lambs 9s 4d, 65 fat 4-tooth croßsbreds 13s lOd, 60 old merino ewes 3s, and sundry small lines from 5s 6d to 9s 9d. Kama—4o at 1 guinea *o 4 duineas apiece. Cattle—lo head at from £2 to £4 per head. ; Waahdyke Yards—On the 2nd inst the annual ram and ewe fair was held There was a very large entry of both rams and ewes, a good attendance of buyers, and a satisfactory /J Bale;' Rams—For Mr John Grigg we sold 7 2-tooth English at 2f- guineas, 2 do do at 3i guineas, 1 do do 1 guinea, 2 Shropshire 2 guineas, and 25 2-tooth Lincolns 1 guinea; for Messrs Bruce and McLaren 10 2-tooth Border Jj.eiceaters 3f- guineas, 6 do do 3£ guineas, 5 old Lincolns £ guinea; for Mr Thomas Palmer 18 2-tooth Lincolns 2| guineas; for Mr John Grant 6 2-tooth English 2£ gaineas ; for Mr Mabm 9 Border Leicesters 3£ guineas. The sale of ewes dull, Pleasant Point—The entry of sheep forward on"the"6fch instant was the, largest ever received at these yards. Every available pen, corner, and any place that sheep could be held was utilised, the major portion comprising indifferent quality. >The sale was eomew'bat easier throughout, the decline being most marked in second quality. We sold halfbred lambs at 7s 6d, merino wethers in forward condition at 7s 6d, old merino ewes 3s 3d, good crossbred lambs 9a 7d, and rams at 15s. We were unfornate in nor. being able to offer several lines th.it arrived late in the morning; there being no yard, they were sent home, Private Sales—ln this department business has been fairly brisk, and since our last report we have sold 11.771, made up with the following liaes: —3265 fat sheep and lambs passed through the freezing works, 4393 merino ewes and wethers, 1025 crossbreds, 2-tooth and lambs, 870 2,4, and 6*tooth merino wethers, 2218 2-tooth halfbreds in conjunction with our Christchurch branch, and 43 Lincoln and Leicester rams. Sheepskins and Wool—Our sales privately and by auction comprised 6834 skins, 35 bales, and 56 bags of wool. There was a good attendance of buyers, and prices showed fully 6d per skin advance. Prices as follows : —Best factory skins 3s 2d to 3s 4d, lambs' skins 3s to 3s 3d, butchers' best 2s 9d to 3a, second Is 9d to 2s 6d, country lots according to condition, etc. Wool: Bales merino fleece 3f d to Bd, pieces 4£d to sid, locks 2d to 2£d, bags in proportion. Fat—All on band quitted at late quotations.

Messrs Gracie, Maclean and Co. report for the past fortnight as follows : Horses—Our entry of draughts for the last two sales has been good, both as regards numbers and quality, but the demand is still very limited, and not likely to improve much until there is a sufficient rainfall to admit of ploughing becoming more general. Hacks—Only a few weedy sorts offering. We sold a good proportion of our entry last Saturday and to-day, at for medium to good draughts, £ls to £25; aged, £6 t > £lO. Light horses and hacks —medium, £8 to £l2; inferior, £2 to £6 OHKISTCHUKQH CORN EXCHANGE. I he following is the Corn Exchange report (per N. P. Meyers, Secretary), for the week ending Friday, April 10th: Consequent on the news cabled from the United Kingdom and the Australian Colonies the wheat market has been in a somewhat disturbed state. Prices at the moment rule in favor of sellers, with a buoyant tendency, and farmers will do well to consider the advisability of selling locally. Oats remain in the listless condition they have been in for some weeks past. Sales have been more difficult to effect, and prices dis- ( heartening to growers. Barley : Nothing doing, as the few samples offering do not come up to maltsters standard. Beans have seen business at quotations, whilst peas, except blue Prussians for export purposes, are most difficult to quit. Grass Heed : This being the off season transactions are restricted. Potatoes : Kidney sorts are entirely neglected. We would warn our farmer friends that they may do serious damage to the good name of Canterbury potatoes by shipping their Derwents before ripe. Butter: No material change can be noted. Choese is taken in small lots for local use, the export trade at this season being limited.. Quotations are as follows : Wheat Tuscan, prime qualitv; 3s 9d to 3s lOd ; pearl, 3s 7d to 3s Bd, hunthrs, 3s b'd. Oats —Milling, Is 8d; short feed, Is 6d ; inferior and discolored, Is 3d to 1b 4d. '

Barley—Malting, 3s 3d ; feed, Is 8d I to 13 lOd. Beans, 2s 4d to 2s 6d. Peas —• Blue Prussians, 3a ; feed, 2s 3d to 2s 6d. Eye Grass—Machine-dressed, 5s 3d to 8s 6d ; farmers' lots, 4s to 4s 6d. Cocksfoot, 4d to 4f d; second quality, 3d to B|d. Potatoes—Kidneys, nominally, 20s to 255; derwents, 25s to 27s 6d, at country stations within a radius of twelve miles. Butter— Fresh and factory makes, 8d t© lid; farmers' keg, 6£d to 7d. Cheese Small loaf, 4£d ; larger s ze, 3£d to 4d. ; The above prices are those paid to farmers for delivery, f.0.b., Lyttelton, new sacks extra 6s 6d per dozen, potatoes excepted.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS. Sydney, April 10. The wheat market is very unsettled, and buyers: are awaiting further develop B?entfl s ' New South Wales has been relying to a great extent upon the anticipated surplus from the Vic torian yield, and South Australia has shipped away great quantities, so that is very little prospects of relief from that quarter. Adelaide, April 11.

The wheat shortage in South Australia and Victoria is two hundred thousand tons more than at first estimated. Hellers' quotations nominally 4s 9d, buyers offer 4s 4d.

KNQLIBH MARKETS. Londokv April 8. New Zealand four per cent inscribed stocky 105, steady; ditto, 3|d per ceots., 96i< firm: New Zealand long-berried wheat, 42s 9d; market firmer. New Zealand wheat on passage is quoted at 41s. A cargo has been sold at 40s. New Zealand lamb, 5d ; quotations for meat are otherwise unchanged. New Zealand hemp is unchanged. South • Australian wheat, 43s 6d ; firm. Victorian do, 42s 6d; market weaker.' •' Wool is unchanged. April 11. At the wool sales prices are hardening, especially in merino wools.