"Between the 'Lower Valley,' in the Nicotian, not the geographical, sense of these words, lie the so-called _Partidos_ which produce the tobacco that is sent to Europe as _Partido_ or _Cabanas_. The leaf often surpasses that of the 'Lower Valley' in size and fineness, as well as in the beauty of the color; but it is inferior in quality. The tobacco farmers though stalwart fellows are not fond of work, and too often waste their time at the tavern. Many of them from thriftlessness are plunged into debt; and scarcely is the harvest ended when they borrow money from the tobacco merchant on the following harvest, who thereby obtains the right to interfere, it may be despotically, with the management of the crop. Continual embarrassments tempt the tobacco planters to be dishonest. To cheat their creditors, they often sell the best part of the crop in underhand fashion. Such of the tobacco farmers as wish to produce a great deal of tobacco, without regard to the excellence of the article, leave the plant to its natural growth, which is both scientifically and otherwise objectionable, for it is on a process of thinning and pruning a due diffusion of sap in the leaves depends, and consequently the quality of the tobacco." The tobacco, after being baled, is sent to the Havana market. The bales of tobacco are carried on the backs of mules or horses to the city or to the nearest railway station. [Illustration: Going to market.] "In the long line or train of mules or horses, the head of one mule or horse is tied to the tail of the one before it. On the back of the foremost sits the driver. The hindmost carries a bell, which enables the driver to know whether any of the animals have broken loose."