In Mexico, Pablo Ramirez studied engineering for two years at the university in Tiaxcala. He ran out of money and had to drop out.

He got a job in a clothing factory, but it didn't pay a living wage. Ramirez, who grins at the mention that he shares the same last name as the Boston Red Sox slugger, then made the move so many of his countrymen are making. He emigrated to the United States.

Ramirez is one of six Mexicans working at the big Piper dairy farm, located on the Solon end of Embden. The Piper farm has 500 milking cows on its combined 1,200 acres of owned and rented land, and the family needs Ramirez as much as he needs them.

"Life here is better," said Ramirez, a small but strong man who speaks better English than the rest of his countrymen on the farm, and does it with a smile. "I learn things every day here. Now, I know about breeding cows."

Unlike some of his married countrymen who send money back to their families, Ramirez is single. A day away from his 30th birthday, which he celebrated by shopping for clothes in Augusta with his girlfriend, he is able to put some of the money earned in a 62-hour week into savings. Ramirez is proud that he owns a car.

"I want to stay here for a long time," he said. "For now I just want to work and save my money."

Piper farm landed its workers through Agri-Placement Services, Inc., a dairy and farm employee placement company based in Macedon, N.Y.

Though Karen Piper, who owns the second-generation farm with her husband, Lowell, said she does not ask the workers about their immigration status, Agri-Placement guarantees to examine potential workers' documents, according to the company's Web site. If they appear genuine and represent the bearer as required by law, the company completes the paperwork required by state and local government.

That paperwork includes an I-9 form, given to the employer, that includes either a birth certificate or work authorization. Workers with I-9 forms either have a green card granting permanent residency or they have temporary protected status, according to Jorge Acero, a migrant and immigrant labor specialist with the state Bureau of Labor Standards.

"If they have filed the I-9 form, then they are authorized to work," Acero said.

The Mexican workers live in a room equipped with cable television and a telephone. Normally, they take a day off each week. They could take two days, but are hungry for the money.

"These guys know that if their kids are going to get an education and food on the table, they have to do it," said Karen Piper. "In many cases, these are the nicest homes they've lived in."

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the Piper farm Mexican workers are among 12,407 Hispanics living in Maine, as of 2005 -- an increase of 2,333 from 2000. Many pick apples in autumn and blueberries in late summer.

Neither Ramirez nor Piper wanted to disclose wages. According to federal standards for agricultural workers, farm workers make straight pay regardless of overtime hours worked. The Pipers voluntarily pay their workers time-and-a-half for holidays.

"I watch them," Piper said from her office, just outside the barns. "If I think they're getting tired, I'll lighten their work load. Most of them want to work more hours. We try to limit them to 62 hours. They will work 80 if we let them."

Ramirez grew up in what he called a medium-income family of four, in San Martine. Coming to the United States was not on his mind, Ramirez said, until he realized after leaving college that he needed to make more money.

He and the other Mexican workers shy away from political talk. Ramirez did not want to discuss this country's efforts to halt illegal immigration from Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

"It's a cultural thing," Piper said. "They won't say anything negative. They won't say, 'I don't like my hours.' They'll just say they want more hours."

On the farm, Ramirez has earned a supervisory position. Like his fellow Mexicans, he works 12-hour days.

Ramirez no longer milks cows, but instead monitors their health from a small office in the barn. He injects cows and has learned breeding. Ramirez takes their temperatures daily, and administers medication.

He is shy talking about his girlfriend. But Ramirez smiled at the thought of taking the next day off to go shopping for clothes with her in Augusta.

"Sometimes I just stay home, sometimes I go out with her," he said.

Piper is pleased with the effort of the Mexican workers.

"They do excellent work," she said. "This group right now, they also get along really good. They're very hard-working people. They don't shrink from any kind of work."

Milking at a farm of Piper's size is a 24-hour job -- one that Piper says local workers will not or cannot do. It's a seven-day-a-week proposition in a different cultural climate. People here, Piper noted, want holidays and weekends off.

As she spoke, a worker named Martine came into the office, asking to purchase a phone card, so that he could call home.

On the bulletin board outside the office, the Solon Corner Market advertised its weekly specials, including chicken enchiladas with salad.

"They order from them five days a week," Piper said.

Store owner John Dayhoof said he tries to put something on the menu that might be attractive to the Mexican workers every couple of weeks.

"We'll do tortillas and things like that," Dayhoof said. "They come in often. They're well-behaved."

Piper and her daughter Karen, visited Mexico last month, and visited some of their workers' families. It was a vacation for them, but the Pipers also learned more about where their workers are coming from.

Work is hard, but there are rewards here for people who otherwise would be toiling for a fraction of the pay in their homeland. In Year 3, both the Pipers and the Mexicans are happy.

"They're always pleasant, always polite and always appreciate of everything you do for them," Piper said.

Larry Grard -- 474-9534, Ext. 343

lgrard@centralmaine.com