In the neighborhood of the larger cities are hundreds of "Estancias," which correspond to what are known as market gardens in the United States. These farms usually consist of less than a hundred acres each, and on them are raised vegetables, chickens, small fruits and other table delicacies, for the city trade. Properly looked after, this business might be one of great profit, but the land is, as a rule, cultivated by tenants, who pay a rental of about five dollars per acre a year, and who are too indolent to give it the care necessary to gain lucrative returns. The principal vegetable raised on these farms is the sweet potato, of which there are two varieties, the yellow and the white. The soil and the climate are not favorable to the cultivation of the Irish potato, and it is necessary to import this luxury, which accounts for the fact that they are seldom seen outside the cities. Plantains are raised in large quantities. This product is to the Cuban what bread is to us, and may be characterized as the standard article of food. Though less nutritious than wheat or potatoes, it is produced in vastly larger quantities from the same area, and with far less effort. It closely resembles the banana, and is in fact often regarded as a variety of that fruit. A fanciful name for it among the natives is "Adam's apple," and the story is that it was the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. On a number of these places the business of farming has been entirely abandoned, and kilns built, where the burning of lime is carried on extensively. CATTLE RANCHES AND STOCK FARMS. The raising of cattle is one of the important industries of Cuba, and as it costs comparatively nothing to fit the stock for the market, handsome profits are realized. Herds of vast numbers roam over the prairies, receiving no attention from their owners, and are sold without any preliminary fattening. Fabulous prices are received for the fierce bulls which are used for the bull fights in the cities, and the breeding of these animals brings large returns. Hides are one of the principal exports of the island, and bone black, prepared from the bones, is sold in immense quantities to the sugar-makers, for use in the manufacture of that article.