COMMERCIAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8326, 7 January 1907, Page 6

COMMERCIAL.

.The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd., report as follows: —Sales generally last week w,ere rather unsatisfactory. Mainly due to two causes, viz., the continued dryweather and the holiday season, business in the stock line is very unsettled. At our Masterton sale, last Thursday, the yarding was light, only a few sales being made privately. At Eketahuna the following day we had a good yarding in both sheep and cattle, and, with the fact that serviceable rains had fallen in the Bush districts trade was much more active than ,in this quarter. Young sheep sold up to 14s 9d, grown steers £5 15s, 3 year olds £4 12s to £4 15s, 2 and year steers 60s to 755, 18 rrfonths 50s, yearlings 29s to 355, good class springers up to 80s. We have placed privately a few lots of beef, butchers wanting nice quality not too heavy for the summer trade. In lambs for rape feeding very few sales have been made owing to the backward growth of rape. Good forward rape lambs ranged from 8s 6d to 10s. At Hastwell, on Saturday, we conducted a clearing sale for Mr H. Watson, the main line being 31 dairy cows. The good reputation of the herd attracted a good many settlers, and, with the fine appearance of the cows, we experienced a very brisk sale, every lot going off readily under the hammer at prices highly satisfactory to the vendor. All other lots in' the catalogue also sold well and freely. The cows had a range from £7 os down to £4, dry cows 34s to 735, yearling heifers 27s to 40s, calves 7s 6d to 10s, pigs 31s to 355. Horses, bull, tools, and furnitui'e were well competed for.

LONDON MARKET ADVICES. , Messrs Dalgety and Company, Wellington, have received the following cables from London, dated 3rd instant: —Frozen meat —Prices for mutton unchanged; market dull. Beef, sides, lower by Jd per lb. Australian lamb, prime, 32-401bs, s|d to sgd. Poor demand for pork, and decrease in prices has not improved the demand. Up to the end of March expect .prices will continue at about 4|d or more. Butter —Market unsettled. The Copenhagen official quotation is unchanged. The total imports of butter into the United Kingdom for the week ended December 29th amounted to 58,000 cwt, as j compared with 70,000cwt for the corresponding week of 1905. The utmost value for finest quality salted is 102s, uijsalted 100s. Tallow—Prices for all sorts lower by 2s per cwt. Fair demand at this price. Messrs Abraham and Williams, Ltd., report: —We offered a fair catalogue of bag lots of wool, skins, and hides. Competition was keen and prices for pelts and lamb skins were somewhat higher than last sale. Wool—Dingy to medium crossbred 9d to lOd, dead 7|d to 9d, pieces s£d to 6£d, locks 4|d. Skins—Medium to coarse crossbred full-wooled 83 d to 9d, fine 9£d, dead 7d to 7,Jd, butchers' lambs 3s, 3s 2d, to 3s sd, pelts 2s lOd, 3s Id, to 3s 3d. Hides— Medium ox 6gd, light 51d, cows s|d to 6d, cut and damaged 3*d to s|d, calves 4fd to 5Jd.