DIAMOND SMUGGLERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 307, 28 December 1929, Page 6 (Supplement)

DIAMOND SMUGGLERS.

HOW THE BIG RING WORKS, THE REWARD OF TREACHERY DETECTIVE WORK IN THE STATES. It is an astounding fact that a bag of uncut stones, smuggled into the United States, will affect the* price of diamonds all over the world. For diamonds, like gold, are a stable commodity. You can take a diamorid from one end of the earth to the other and find that it will fetch much the same price anywhere. But.for the last year or two the price of stones in the United States, the big* gest buyer of diamonds, lias been cut into so badly by clever smuggling on a large scale, that the American dealers, instead of sharing in the country's .marvellous prosperity, have just been making two ends meet, as it were. Diamonds are duty free in England, but the States impose an import tax of 20 per cent. That means that if a smuggler can get a £1000 stone into the country without paying duty, he can sell it for £800 and still clear a profit on the price he, paid for it in Amsterdam. The dealer, in his turn, can sell it for £900 and make £100 profit —and undercut his competitors, who- cannot sell such a stone profitably under its true value of £1000. From time to time arrests have been made, thanks to the extraordinary detective work by the police of Holland, Britain and the United States. But the master mind of the big gang always escapes, and smuggling has continued unabated because he has never been caught. An Antwerp "ring" undertakes transactions on a huge scale, and employes j)rofesßional carriers. It sells the stones, and posts securities guaranteeing safe delivery of the diamonds. The delivery charge is from sto 8 per cent. The professional carrier is usually a man with a criminal record who is in the hands of the "ring." The dealers got together, however, and co-operated with the Customs and the police in offering a reward of 25 per cent of the value of the gcm6 recovered. It is a sinister fact, however, that this lucrative reward has failed to expose any of the big smuggling operations. The professional carriers could make sometimes as much as £25,000 from the authorities merely for giving the * game away, and handing over the stones on arrival. They know they could go free with a fortune in their pockets. But how long would they live to enjoy the . reward of treachery to their masters? Their own answer to that question is significant. They simply do not succumb to the temptation to play traitor, although they are merely hired carriers getting no more than £500 a year from their employers.

Several did in 1026, however, and every one met with a violent death.

But the wires between Antwerp, Paris, London and New York have been very busy with coded police messages lately. Picked detectives are watching at a score of ports, and the. Customs officials in half a dozen countries have identical secret instructions.

The net is closing round the big ring.

TO CORRESPONDENTS. BULB (Otahuhu) wishes to know when to lift amaryllls bulbs.—These are best lifted now. Actually these bulbs never rest, and when taken up will have a lot of thick, fleshy roots. They should be replanted as soon as possible, as they do not improve by being kept our of the ground. They do not need manure, but a well drained, sheltered position suits them. UTILITARIAN (Epsom) sends some specimens for identification.— (1) Geranium Molle. (2) Sagina proumbeans. (M) Luzula campestris. (4) Epilobium (willow herb). (5) Gnaphilium. (C) Gnapliilium Kericnse. (7) Oxolis. None are of any value; all are more or less common weeds in cultivated ground. It is very difficult to name specimens correctly unless they are in flower, and in some cases fruit is also necessary. PUZZLED (Matamata) sends some carnation flowers and wishes to know why the calyx splits.—-It may be due to habit, some varieties almost invariably splitting the calyx. Placing a rubber ring or a tie with wool round the bud before it opens will prevent it. Wet, cold weather, causing a check in growth, will also cause the buds to split. If you require flowers without split calyx the only way to be sure of them is to place a ring round them. Carnation rings can bo purchased. SPUD (Mercer) sends some potato foliage for examination. —The trouble is caused by potato blight.. There is no cure "at this stage, and all you can do is to let the potatoes mature as well as possible, then dig them. Prevention is the only possible method. Next season when planting potatoes make arrangements for spraying and commence the spraying directly the leaves show through the ground. Sprayings should be given every three weeks or so, the method being to keep the foliage as it appears coated with the spray mixture, and rliis prevents the spores from germinating.

CUTTING HEDGES. The clipping of live hedges, whether composed of evergreen or deciduous subjects, is an important work and should be done at tlie proper, time. The general tendency is to prune the hedges when they are in their young spring growth. This greatly weakens the plants, and in the case of the flowering kinds cuts off the shoots that produce the flowers, which add to the charms of escallonia, abelia, and tecoma in the early winter. The continual cutting of tecoma is in a measure accountable for the dying in places and unhealthy appearance of old hedges. Allow the growth to mature. Early in January is a suitable time for the first trimming, and the second late in the autumn or during the early winter. Conifer hedges, such as cupressus should only be treated when the growth is dormant, July being the best month to cut these. PERPETUAL FLOWERING CARNATIONS. Where small flowering plants in fiveinch pots are required for next winter's flowering, propagation may still be practised, either by layering or cuttings. The young stock will require constant attention, potting on the different batches as they fill their present pots with roots. The earliest struck cuttings will now be nice, bushy plants in 4£ or sin pots, almost ready to be potted into Tin pots. Where the plants are being grown on for flowering next winter and onwards, most careful attention must be given to stopping, and never pinch all the shoots on any particular plant at the same time — that is, at least, if a succession of bloom is the result desired. REMOVING DEAD BLOOMS. It is well to attend to the removal of dead flowers from plants, not only for the sake of tidiness, but because some kinds will produce a second crop of blossoms if this is promptly attended to. A .cood many of the campanulas, gaillardias, coreopsis, delphiniums, will respond in this way if the faded blooms are kept picked off.

A "USEFUL GARDEN" BASKET. A useful garden basket or tool box can be made by nailing a twisted tea-tree stick as at A on to the box B. The

stick slioukl be made of green wood and can be twisted by holding it in hot water or steam near the fire. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Any plants of the large flowering varieties which are intended for the production of specimen blooms should be growing nicely now, and should be encouraged by feeding and having the surface soil well stirred. Single varieties and others for cut blooms should have the tops pinched out so as to cause the plants to break low down. These should also have the surface soil kept stirred. Where it is usual, and that is where it has ever been s p .en before, ,for rust to attack the plants spraying should be done. If the soil was well prepared and in good heart there should not be need of too much watering yet. Keep the surface loose and conserve the moisture; too much watering produces gross sappy growth, and the result is often a plant denuded of foliage by rust. Grow yp'ir plants as hard and firm as possible, eliminating as much as possible all shelter, shade, artificial watering and feeding, and the result will be stronger plants, with more rust-resisting powers.

PETUNIAS.

When handling seedling petunias, whether double or single flowered varieties, do not retain all the largest and strongest growing plants, discarding the weaklings as rubbish. These weaklings as a rule produce the best double and the best coloured single varieties.