COMMERCIAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2653, 1 May 1894, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

AUCTIONEERS' REPORT. The Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association, Limited (per Mr J. Mundell, auctioneer), report on the horse market at Tatteraall's on Saturday, as follows : Our entry comprised 37 head of all classes, and for all young pound stock, either heavy draught or light harness sorts, buyers were found at price 3 satisfactory to vendors; but for aged Btock there was no demand. Our quotations are: Draughts,young,sound,and staunch, £ls 10s, £l6 ss, to 17 ; do do, unbroken, £l6; light harness sorts, £l2 to £l4 10s.

CHRISTCHURCH MARKETS. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, report for the week ending Friday, April 27th, 1894, as follows: — Wheat Local millers are operating freely at full values, when good samples are offered, but growers as a rule prefer to hold for the present. Curreut quotationsare :—Old tuscan and pearl, 2s 6d to 2s 7d; hunters, 2s 5d to 2s 6d; new, 2a 2d to 2s 3d, f.0.b., sacks extra. Oats —Our quotations are fully maintained in this market, and there are indications of a better inquiry. We quote : —Milling, Is 7d to Is 8d; heavy feed, Is 6d to Is 7d; long and ordinary, Is 3d to Is 5d per bushel, f.0.b., sacks extra. Barley Best malting when offered commands 3s 9d to 4s; medium, 3s to 3s 6d; thin, Is 6d to 2s 6d per bushel, delivered, sacks extra. Beans and Peas—Quotations are without alteration, and very little business is passing. Ryegrass—Demand has fallen off until spring sowing commences. Best machinedressed old pasture is valued at 3s 9d to 4s 3d; farmers' parcels 2s 6d to 3s per bushel, delivered. Cocksfoot —Machine-dressed, 4£d to delivered.

MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL London, April 26.

Mr Weddell is in Paris nrging the French Minister of War to purchase Timaru and Geelong mutton, and utilise a ship at Rouen for cold storage purposes. There are complaints that the bones of the mutton in all the vessels which have recently arrived from New Zealand have a b a d odour. It is believed that this is due to defective freezing in the first instance.

The Port Said Refrigerating Company has secured a site for storage at Malta. It is to cost £40,000, and the works will be finished in six months. The Government is directing the construction of a cold store at Gibraltar. April 27.

At a meeting of shareholders of the Bank of South Australia Mr Arbuthnot said the realisation of assets showed a deficiency of £302,000, but the Union Bank estimated the deficiency at £341,000. The outcome of the liquidation was greviously disappointing. Counsel had advised that no pq.\\ should be made till one was ordered by the Court. The meeting resolved to appoint a committee of hva to, confer with the liquidators and to co»>e to some arrangement with the Union Bank.

Now ZeHfaud -1 per cent, inscr bud stock, 107;! ; oh do., 100. Now Zealand long berried wheat, ex warehouse, 2f>s 9.1 ; market tl.at and business ro-;(ricto'i. •-■■ -nib Australian do, 27s <id ; Nov.' Zealaud mutton, first quality, 4sd; second quality, did ; market depressed. Lamb, first quality, Thcro is no beef (hindquarters) in the market. Hemp is quiet. One hundred and ninety bales of Now Zealand were offered but had to be bought in. Danish butter, 101 s. Bri.sisank, April 27. Mr Buzncot, managing director of the Courier, ha 3 filed a declaration of insolvency with liabilities amounting to £21,900.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. The following are the agricultural statistics for South Canterbury, as gazetted for each of the counties under the initial of each:— G. M. W. Holdings over 1 acreFreehold ... 840 48 381 Rented ... 395 24 133 Part free, part rented ... 222 21 101 Total holdings 1457 93 615 Land broken up not cropped acres 11,558 1271 7961 Land in wheat, acres ... ... 30,340 1151 7961 Land' in produce, bushels ... 687,674 24,755 396,606 Land in oats, for green feed, acres 755 482 516 Land in oats, for hay, acres ... 1541 80 1752 Land in oats, for grain, acres ... 25,229 2321 19,551 Land in oats, for produce, bushels 841,437 88,260 584,166 In barley, acres... 909 1402 Produce, bushels 21,890 33,147 In potatoes, acres 1294 20 313 Product-, tons ... 8992 95 1721 In turnips and rape, acres ... 23,674 4544 22,206 In other crops, acres 298 4 468 Total under crops, acres 84,040 9602 68,811 In Sown Grasses— For hay, acres 1901 140 335 Produce, tons 3147 345 486 In Grasses after ploughing, acres 201,553 42,557 218,420 In Grasses, without ploughing 49,571 11,864 23,900 Produce of Grass Seed— Ryegrass, bush. 4366 12,065 Cocksfoot ... 249 2520 In gardens, acres 504 32 220 In orchards, acres 595 13 213 The number of holdings shows a reduction of 66 on last year's return, which if correct shows that the subdivisions effected by the Minister of Lands have been counteracted by aggregations elsewhere. "The figures," says the Gazette, "are subject to revision. " It is to be hoped this item will be altered a good deal on revision. The area of land broken up but not under crop 20,810 acres, is 450 acres less than was returned last year. It was estimated some months ago that the area sown in grain in South Canterbury this season was about one-fourth less than last season. The total area of wheat, oats and barley this year was 103,506 acres; last year 129,769; so that this estimate was not very wide of the mark. The reduction was all in wheat—from 87,931 acres to 54,094; oats show an increase from 40,054 to 47,101 acres; barley an increase from 1784 to 2311 acres. The area of wheat was only abont fiveeights of the previous year's.

The diminution in the area under wheat is trifling compared with the reduction of total produce (and the figures for this will need much revising). While the harvest of 1893 was estimated at 2,209,457 bushels, that of this year is put down at 1,111,036, a trifle over half of last year's. Last year's estimates gave an average of 25.12 bushels per acre; this year's 20.54 bushels. The increased area under oats, 7050 acres, is backed up by an increase in the average yield, from 31.33 to 32.14 bushels per acre; the total product being given us 1,513,863 bushels, when compared with 1,255,158 bushels, the estimate for last year.

Barley covered more ground, but the product is not covered iu the same proportion, the estimates giving an average of 30.8 bushels last year and only 23.81 this year. Potatoes occupied 1627 acres against 1264 acres last year and the total produce is put down at 10,808 tons, equal to 6.27 tons per acre, to be compared with 8158 tons and 6.45 tons per acre last year.

Adding together the land broVen up and not cropped, the land under crop, and that under grass after ploughing, we get a total of 645,803 acres that have been brought under the plough in South Canterbury.