A very large quantity of choice fruit is raised here. A 

 prettier location of buildings could not be found - the 

 only one to compare with it, in my observation, is the 

 E. G. Maggetti ranch at Marshall, this county. 



Mrs. Robinson, a lady from San Francisco, is assisting 

 Mrs. Dickson in the dressmaking line. 



Mr. Dickson's last improvement to his fine dairy was 

 to have Dr. B. A. Frost dehorn his cows, and was 

 greatly surprised as well as pleased to see how quite 

 [sic] and humane the operation was conducted. 111 



According to a newspaper report six months later, the creamery was up to 

 speed: Dickson milked 107 cows and made 4,200 pounds of butter per month. 

 Less than a year later the Dairy and Produce Review wrote about the ranch: 



At Olema is the fine dairy of Ed Dickson, where 115 

 high grade Jerseys are being milked, producing about 

 11/4 pounds of butter each per day. Over $1,000 

 worth of mill feed was used during the last winter, 

 but the Jerseys more than paid for it. This fine dairy 

 ranch has been developed to its present conditions by 

 Mr. George Mason, an enterprising dairyman, who 

 sold out to Mr. Dickson. 11 ' 



The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck while Dickson resided at the 

 ranch. The large milking barn, built after the 1868 quake, was destroyed. The 

 shock also toppled the fireplace, destroying the marble mantle and side 

 equipment. Dickson rebuilt the barn in a slightly different configuration. 120 



Robert E. Dickson received title for the ranch from his widowed mother 

 in 1916, two years after the death of his father, John C. Dickson. Around this 

 time he sold a small amount of acreage on the northwestern corner of the 

 ranch to one Roger Johnson. Eventually he leased the ranch to others and 

 moved his family to San Rafael. Eight years later, on October 3, 1924, he sold 



I18 San Rafael Tocsin. January 26, 1901. 



" 9 Marin Journal. June 20, 1901, March 20, 1902 (quoting the Dairy and Produce Review) and 

 October 8, 1914; Deeds Book 64, p. 213, MCRO; Population Schedules of the 12th U. S. Census, 

 1900. 



l20 Nelson Olds, Jr. to Mrs. Boyd Stewart, August 24, 1938. 



218 



