The pan method described above required vigilance in watching the milk 

 to avoid spoilage and carefully controlled environmental conditions. The 

 scarcity of hot weather aided the Olema Valley dairyman in some ways, but 

 new methods were sought to reduce the time needed for old-fashioned 

 separating. Some complained that the "volatile and delicate flavoring oils" 

 essential to the best butter production were lost in the pan method. 

 Experimentation on the East Coast led to the invention by Dr. Karl Gustaf 

 Patrik De Laval of the continuous discharge centrifugal cream separator, 

 described in a contemporary journal: 



The machine is practically a large bowl which revolves 

 at a rate of from six to eight thousand revolutions a 

 minute. A simple contrivance forces the milk to 

 follow the rotation of the vessel. The milk and cream 

 being of different specific gravities, separate almost 

 immediately upon being put into the machine. The 

 milk being the heavier, passes to the circumference, 

 and is forced up and out through a small delivery 

 tube. The cream collects at the center, and rising up, 

 overflows through the outlet at the top. 96 



These separators, powered by steam or gasoline engines, came into use on Point 

 Reyes in the 1880s, and were in universal use by the turn of the century. The 

 time saved and assurance of quality only furthered the production of fine butter 

 in the area. 



c. Buttermaking 



Many ranches employed a buttermaker, who was often started as a 

 milker and learned the skills on the job. The buttermaker reigned over the 

 dairy house, and his responsibility to the owners was heavy. Again, the 1880 

 account: 



The cream is then placed in the churn, which consists 

 of a rectangular box in the shape of a parallelo- 

 pipedon, the sides of which are two and five feet 



96 Sheldon, "Dairying" pp. 343-344; The De Laval Handbook of Milking (Poughkeepsie: De Laval 

 Separator Company, ca. 1961), p. 15. 



56 



