COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 119, 6 August 1875, Page 5

COMMERCIAL.

Mr. A. Mercer reports for the week ending August 6, retail prices only : — Fresh butter, 2s 4cl per lb ; powdered and salt butter, Is lOd. .The supply of fresh butter still continues scarce, and not neor enough to supply the market ; there is plenty of salt butter, and selling well. Cheese, best quality, scarce, Is 2d per lb ; side bacon,, Is 3d ; rolled bacon, Is 2d ; beef ham, lOd ; Colonial ham, Is 4d ; English ham, Is 8d to Is 9d ; eggs, very scarce, retailing at 2s 6d per dozen. Me. Skene reports for the week ending August 2 : — The Aldergrove's people have come at a very bad season for their own comfort, but very opportunely for country employers, as many here are short. The " new chums " seem a smart lot. If anything, they display rather too much " animal spirit." However, they will get colonized, and absorbed quickly. We can well do with the servant girls brought, especially if they know ordinary house work. New arrivals with large families have a hard pull just now. House room is scarce and dear, and roads up country are horrid. The opening of the railway in September will be a great boon to many, allowing people to get at work from so many points. Farm hands are very scarce still. Shepherds are "beginning to move. The building trade is almost at a stand still now, but carpenters aro fairly busy. Indoor trades, tailors, shoemakers, cabinetmakers, and such, make few complaints, but men newly arrived cannot drop into good shops in these times without a, deal of trouble. Wages : — House and hotel girls, from .£26 to £52; carpenters, 10s to 13s per day ; blacksmiths, 40s to 60s per week and found ; ploughman and shepherds, .£52 to ,£7O per year ; dairy and odd hands, 15s and 20s per week ; office and store hands poorly paid, and quiet at present ; youngsters from 5s to 15s per week ; day labourers, Bs, 9s, I and 10s per day ; fencers by the chain. Mb. Henry Driver, on behalf of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, reports as follows for the wcok ending August 4 : — Fat Cattle. — The very small supply of 90 head very medium quality cattle came forward at the weekly sale, and, the trade for the most part being without any stock on hand, fully last week's quotations were realised ; and were it not for the fact that sheep are coming forward in large quantities, beef would command even higher prices than at present. Best bullocks brought up to £16 10s ; ditto cows, up to £13 10s. At the yards we sold 26 head, and have placed 60 head privately. We quote for prime quality beef 40s per 1001 b.; ordinary ditto, 30s to 32s 6d. Fat Sheep. — Again we have to report a full supply of 2,000, consisting for the most part of fair quality cross-breds. Only about half this number were disposed of, as the trade continue to be well supplied by private deliveries. We quoto cross-breds at from 14s 6d to 17s 6d. A few three-quarter-bred, heavy weight, brought 21s ; merinos, best quality, 10s to 12s 6d. At the yards we sold 350, and privately 400. Fat Calves. — A few of inferior quality yarded, and brought 25a to 559. Store Cattle. — Cows and bullocks fit for grazing continue to be very scarce, and readily saleable at from £4 4s to <£5 5s for former, and £6 to .£7 10s for latter. Store Sheep. — As is usual at this season of 'JAig year, very few sheep are changing hands ; in fact, we have no important transactions to report, sales being confined to a few odd lots about town. Wool. — Further price catalogues, per Suex mail, are to hand, establishing the advance on cross-bred and all coarse description of fully 2d. per lb. Washed combing and light grease combing merinos are noticeable as bringing higher prices than in February; whereas heavy grease, unless with great length of staple, shows no improvement on former rates. Sheepskins were well competed for at our sale lxst Thursday. Cross bred butchers', green sold at 5s Id to 6s Id — average lots, not picked skins ; merinos, green, 4s ; dry cross-breds, 4s 4d to 6s Id ; merinos, 2s 2d to 4s 8d ; pelts, 7d to Is 2d. Hides were scarcely in so good demand as the pre^ijus week, and lower prices were offered. Heavies brought 22s 6d to 23& 3d ; medium, 19s 6d to 21s ; light, Ids ; calfskins, good demand, 2s to 3s, small. Tallow. — Fair country-rendered brought 295. Grain. — Our later cablegrams up to 24th July from London quoto Adelaide wheat up to 563 per quarter, being an advance of Ss per quarter from the lowest points some months since. Melbourne and Adelaide appear both influenced, and have advanced fully Gel per bushel, with an active demand. In this market there is more inquiry, and millers have taken up parcels they hesitated to do a week ago. The market to-day closes firm at Id to 2cl above the prices that could be obtained before the advices of adverse harvest prospects in England . had reached us. Good to superior, 4s Gd to 4s 7cl ; other sorts, 4s to 4s 4d. Oats have obtained more inquiry. Some sma'l shipping parcels have changed hands at 2s 8d for heavy feed. We cannot write or learn of sales of milling samples over 2s 9d to 2s lOd. Barley is inquired after, and sells at 5s 6d for good malting samples ; inferior, 5s to 5s 3d j milling in good demand, at 4s 3d to 4s 4d,