Many
of the silver pieces have large holes cut in the centre, so that they
resemble rings. Government set the example (and the people followed) on
the plea that it would prevent the exportation of coin. The plan has
succeeded, for it does not pass out of the valley.

Nearly the only sign of progress is the late introduction of the grape
and silk-worm; and these give so much promise of success that the
threadbare nobility have already begun to count their coming fortunes.
Husbandry is more pastoral than agricultural. Thousands of cattle are
raised on the paramos, but almost wholly for beef. "A dislike to milk
(observes Humboldt), or at least the absence of its use before the
arrival of Europeans, was, generally speaking, a feature common to all
nations of the New Continent, as likewise to the inhabitants of China."
Some cheese (mostly unpressed curd) and a little butter are made, but in
the patriarchal style. Only one American churn is in operation; the
people insist upon first boiling the milk and then stirring with a
spoon. Custom is omnipotent here, and its effects hereditary. Milking is
done at any hour of the day, or whenever milk is wanted. The operation
is a formidable one to these bull-fighting people. Stopping at a
hacienda near Pelileo for a drink of milk, we were eye-witness of a
comical sight. A mild-looking cow was driven up to the door; the woman,
evidently the bravest member of the household, seized the beast by the
horns; a boy tied the hind legs with a long rope, and held on to one end
of it at a respectful distance; while the father, with outstretched
arms, milked into a calabash.

Agricultural machinery is not in use. The first threshing-machine Quito
ever saw was made in 1867 by some California miners, but it remained
unsold when we last saw it. The spade is not known; the nearest approach
to it is a crowbar flattened at one end. Hoes are clumsy and awkward.
Yankee plows are bought more as curiosities than for use. Many a crooked
stick is seen scratching the land, as in Egypt, which the cattle drag by
their horns. Sometimes a number of sharp-nosed hogs are tied together
and let into a field, and driven from place to place till the whole is
rooted up. Corn is planted by making holes in the ground with a stick,
and dropping in the seed. The soil and climate of Ecuador, so infinitely
varied, offer a home to almost every useful plant. The productions of
either India could be naturalized on the lowlands,