Capital Dairy was one of the advertisers in this home-grown cook book, "compiled under auspices of Eastern Star, Sacramento, Cal." and they claimed to have been a favorite since 1853. The first Sacramento City Directory (1851) contains no entries under dairies, but a diary of an overland journey by Ledyard and Margaret Frink provides a look at the very early dairy industry in Sacramento. The Frinks leased a house on "J" Street for $300 per month in late 1850 and opened a hotel/eatery, buying a total of ten cows in the next few months and providing milk free with the meals they sold. Business continued to increase and in May of 1851 the Frinks purchased an established dairy of 60 acres, providing them with cabin, fences, horse, wagon and a total of 25 producing dairy cows. Within a year after their arrival in Sacramento, the couple sold their share in the hotel and eatery, doubled their dairy herd, and reaped the benefits of a market that commanded $2 a gallon for milk.
