VI 
CINNAMON 
221 
grown in shade. Cinnamon grown in marshy land is 
spongy and coarse grained, with very little aroma. ^ 
The best cinnamon is said to come from the middle of 
the shoot, that of the upper end being of second quality, 
and that from the base or thickest end the most 
inferior. 
The bits trimmed off are known as “ cinnamon 
chips,” chiefly used for oil, and a thick bark derived 
from older stems is known to the trade as “ cinnamon 
bark.” It occurs in flat or slightly channelled fragments, 
as much as | of an inch thick. It is also used for manu- 
facturing oil. 
The bales of cinnamon which arrive in London are 
always repacked in the dock warehouses, and in this 
handling there is a certain amount of breakage. The 
broken bits are kept separate and sold as “ small 
cinnamon.” It is often of excellent quality and used 
in pharmacy. 
CINNAMON CHIPS 
This is the name given to the coarsest and most 
inferior cinnamon that cannot be quilled, and the 
prunings and waste bits obtained in trimming and 
peeling. Till 1867 it appears that in Ceylon this was 
used for extracting the cinnamon oil locally, and not 
shipped to Europe. It was then, however, found profit- 
able to export chips wholesale, which resulted in an 
excessive export of cinnamon in the two forms. The 
rubbish sent from the island brought the chips into 
disfavour, and the price of the spice fell. 
Then followed great discussions as to the advantages 
to be gained by the planters by preventing the shipping 
of chips altogether. A native Representative Association 
agreed in 1883-1884 to give up the preparation and 
export of chips, but this does not seem to have had 
much effect, and chips are shipped to the present day. 
The amount of chips in proportion to the quills was 
very large in 1880, over one-third of the amount of 
^ Experienced planter, and E. Boddam, in All about Spices. 
