b. Milking and Separating 



Laborers on the dairies milked the cows by hand until the 1920s and 

 1930s, when milking machines became popular here. A milker found work on a 

 dairy and was provided housing, food, and from $25 to $30 per month wages. 

 One writer noted that the milkers were mostly "whites," with Chinese 

 considered to not be satisfactory milkers. Off season, the milkers either found 

 other work on the ranches or went to the cities for the duration. 93 



Unless it was raining, milking was done outdoors, in a well-drained 

 central corral reserved for the purpose. Each milker took charge of a "string" of 

 cows, usually 20-25, and could milk them in about two hours. The number of 

 cows on a dairy ranch determined the number of milkers required to get the job 

 done. According to an account of methods employed at the Pierce Ranch on 

 Point Reyes published in 1880: 



The milkers use an ordinary flared tin pail, holding 

 about sixteen quarts, and have their milking stools 

 adjusted to them with straps. When the pail is full 

 the milker steps into the strainer room and passes the 

 milk into a sort of double hopper with a strainer in 

 each section. From this the milk passes through a tin 

 pipe to a vat which holds one hundred and thirty 

 gallons. 94 



The milker returned to his "string" after depositing the contents of his bucket. 



During bad weather the milking was done in the barn. Here, cows 

 entered the barn from one side, were secured into a stanchion, and milked by 

 hand. The floors were wood, increasing the cleanliness, and the barn was 

 washed out after every milking. Near the turn of the century, some milking 

 barns were improved with concrete floors. Milking machines, invented in the 

 1870s but not in popular use until the 1920s, decreased the number of milkers 

 required and improved sanitation in the milking process. 95 



After being drawn from the cow, the milk was strained and separated, 



93 Ibid., pp. 357-358; Francis E. Sheldon, "Dairying in California," Overland Monthly 11. 

 January-June 1888, p. 343; 



94 Munro-Fraser, Marin County, p. 298. 



95 Sneath, "Dairying in California," p. 391; interview with Joe Mendoza. 



54 



