260 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
pure, and the feed is said to be sweet and free from plants that 
give a tamt to milk. 
The Dairies .—I visited quite a number of dairies, traveling, 
in all, nearly a hundred miles over the estate. The dwellings 
are neat and subst ntial, each place provided with dairy house, 
corrals for enclosing cattle, and sheds and barns for storing 
fodder. The cows are milked in the open yard, and the 
milkers empty ike milk into a receptacle outside the building, 
from whence it is strained and flows into a receiving can in the 
milk room. From this it is drawn through a faucet into pans, 
which are immediately set upon the racks. Water, either con¬ 
ducted by pipes from springs, or pumped into reservoirs, is in 
the corrals, and supplies the dair 3 T . The temperature of the 
milk rooms is scarcely ever above 65°, and artificial heat is 
more frequently required in the milk rooms than too high a 
temperature resulting from natural causes. I saw the process 
of butter making in all its stages, but perhaps a detailed 
description of the work at two or three ranches may be suf¬ 
ficient to give the reader some general idea as to the manner 
in which California dairies are managed. 
On the Point Reyes estate several of the dairy establish¬ 
ments, or farm buildings, are located in the canyons or valleys ; 
though wtkne there are large, level tracts of land and con¬ 
veniences of running water, advantage is taken of the situation 
to establish “ headquarters ” for the rancho. The tenants, or 
those managing the several ranches, are mostly from New 
England or JNew York. 
In some cases unmarried men with Chinese house-servants 
carry on the establishment; but usually married men with 
their families are located here. At one point I found a school 
for the education of the children, taught by a genuine New 
England “school mistress,” who received $30 per month and 
board for services. During my trip I not unfrequently saw 
“ little lassies ” going and returning from school mounted on 
mustang ponies. Regular water communication is soon to be 
