A stick for cooperation

MAXIA, CARLO

1995-01-01

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Abstract

The purpose of this article is to give a brief description of the use of the musròju (a stick used for measuring milk) and of the pastoral "partnership" in which it was used, but most of all to invite researchers who have studied similar methods of measurement or calculation to a discussion of the theme; it is also hoped that it will act as a stimulus for further research or analysis of systems of this kind. Up to thirty years ago, in Villasalto, a small Sardinian town, goatherds continued to join together to cooperate on the basis of an agreement known as "a cumpàngius". Each partner took turns doing a specific task (grazing, cheese-making and so on). Turns were decided on the basis of the amount of milk produced by each member. To measure the milk and total the amounts produced over a period of several days, each goatherd used his own stick, on which notches were cut.