mulsA - museo di storia dell'agricoltura - ETS
Fondato a Milano nel 1971
PASTORALISM IN THE ALPINE VALLEYS
This section displays a series of objects linked to sheep and cattle farming, dairy and wool processing, and Alpine fodder production, originating from the Mountain Museum of Premana (Lecco). In one corner of the room, a reduced-scale reconstruction of a typical shepherds’ hut is presented, built of dry stone with a pitched beola roof. Three taxidermied sheep—a ram, a ewe and a lamb—lend vividness to the scene. In the Alpine–Po Valley context it is necessary to distinguish between two systems. The first is true pastoralism, centred on sheep farming and based on seasonal transhumance between the plain and the mountains, along the great routes of the Po Valley and their connected valleys. Such movements covered several hundred kilometres each year: for example, from the upper Bergamasque valleys to the lower Adda plains and sometimes even as far as the Adriatic coast, and back again. This practice has an extremely ancient tradition, dating back to the Late Palaeolithic, when hunters followed herds of wild herbivores (such as deer) on their seasonal migrations between mountain and plain. Closely related to transhumance is alpeggio, typical of the peasant communities of the mountain valleys. Each family owned one, two or three head of livestock—usually cattle, but often also sheep and goats—which were driven “to the mountain” (summer pasturing) with the arrival of fine weather: first, in April–May, to the mid-altitude meadows known as maggenghi, and later, in summer, to the higher pastures, the alpi (or malghe). In September the return journey was made. In some valleys, summer pasturing was entrusted especially to young women, as in Valvarrone at Premana, since in the wider valley bottoms men devoted themselves to agriculture and the collection of winter fodder. In poorer valleys, men engaged in crafts; in Premana, for example, in metallurgy. Elsewhere, livestock were entrusted to a hired shepherd.
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View of the exhibition space dedicated to “Pastoralism in the Alpine Valleys”
THE ORGANISATION OF THE LODIGIANO FARMSTEAD
​An organisational chart illustrates how work was divided among the various labourers on the Lodigiano cascina (farmstead) at the height of its development, namely between the late 19th and early 20th century. What peasants called the padròn was not always the landowner but could also be his agent or the fitàul, that is, the tenant farmer who rented and managed the holding.
The cascina functioned as a large enterprise, with different “sectors” (similar to departments in industry), each directed by a head: the fatùr, responsible for field work; the casìr, responsible for the cattle barn; and the cap casé, in charge of the dairy. Other figures, such as the domestic staff serving the padròn, did not fall into these categories. The workers were genuine wage labourers (comparable to industrial workers), paid in both money and kind (housing, supplies of grain etc.). Two sluice gates on display recall the central role of irrigation management, entrusted to the dacquadù (irrigator), the farm worker in charge of water distribution. Also on display are three tools used for harvesting ice for storage in icehouses: the redìn (net), the màsa (wooden mallet), and the badìl (shovel). In winter, artificial ponds were prepared in which water would freeze. The ice, broken up with the mallet and gathered with the long-handled net, was transported on sled carts to the nevére (icehouses). There it was carefully packed, often mixed with snow, to form a compact mass, then covered with straw or rice husks for insulation. The use of icehouses continued until the late 1940s.
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Panoramic view of the exhibition space dedicated to “The Organisation of the Lodigiano Farmstead”.
THE CARTWRIGHT
​The cartwright (marengon or lignamé da casina) was, among all the artisanal figures connected with the agricultural world, the most distinctive. He was skilled in constructing carts in all their component parts, wooden agricultural implements, household furniture and furnishings, as well as toys for children. He often worked in collaboration with the blacksmith to build those tools in which metal was combined with wood as part of the structure.
In the large farmsteads, the cartwright was a salaried worker and resided on the farm, where he occupied a workshop called the arsenale, equipped with a workbench and his tools. At other times, he worked independently and maintained his own workshop in the village.
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Panoramic view of the exhibition space “The Cartwright”
THE SADDLER AND THE BLACKSMITH-FARRIER
As long as the age of animal traction lasted, a key figure was the blacksmith-farrier (fré). He was responsible for shoeing the hooves of draught animals (horses, oxen, mules) and for other tasks such as repairing the metal parts of ploughs and early mechanical implements, as well as repairing and constructing, in collaboration with the cartwright, carts and other agricultural vehicles. He too could be a wage labourer residing on the farmstead, or else an artisan with a modest workshop on the edge of the village or hamlet.
The saddler (bastè) was responsible for making harnesses for animal traction. He produced pack saddles, riding saddles, reins, collars, and everything required for the harnessing of horses or cattle. In all farmsteads, large and small, there was a saddlery, a place where all the equipment for the harnessing of animals was stored.
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Views of the exhibition spaces “The Saddler” (left) and “The Blacksmith-Farrier” (right)
DIORAMA OF THE CASCINA OF THE LOWER LOMBARD PLAIN
The model of the cascina of the Bassa (5 m × 4 m) was created by the well-known modeller Pier Luigi Bombelli of Sergnano (Cremona) and his team. Structurally, the model is highly representative of the Bassa Lombarda (Lower Lombardy). Indeed, it displays syncretic features, as is often the case in areas situated at the centre of a ring of territories characterised by different building types.
Thus, the dwelling on the right reflects the influence of the Bergamasque model. The central structure presents feature typical of the Cremasco style. The cowshed, on the other hand, clearly evokes the Lodigiano type.
From right to left, one can observe: the labourer’s house with the table laid (the calendar shows 25 December), the bread oven, the tool shed beneath the hayloft, the manor house, the portico filled with equipment, pig processing, the cowshed, carts in the farmyard, domestic animals, the latrine, the well, the market gardener, and dozens of other objects, both inside the buildings and in the open air.
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​View of the diorama reconstructing in miniature a farmstead of the Lower Lombard Plain
THE DAIRY
Farm dairies were generally located next to the cattle barns, where the milk to be processed was produced, and near the pig sheds, where pigs were fed with the whey resulting from cheese-making. Among the rooms that composed the dairy was the skimming room, which housed round copper basins in which milk was left for 12 hours to allow the cream to rise, later removed with a skimming ladle (spannarola). By the 1930s–40s, these basins had been replaced by flat rectangular containers with an outlet at one end, enabling the skimmed milk to drain off first, followed by the cream. The cream was then poured into the churn along with a little ice. Once the churn was set in motion, the beaten cream turned into butter. The butter, once extracted and worked, was moulded into specific shapes. For the production of grana cheese, the skimmed milk was taken to the cooking room and poured, together with the whole milk from the night milking, into a special copper cauldron where the cheesemaking process began. Among the instruments on display is a large copper cauldron, bell-shaped and suspended by a strong handle from a rotating crane, used for making grana cheese. This type of direct-fire cauldron, in use since the Middle Ages, was replaced in the 20th century by steam cauldrons, capable of heating milk more evenly and precisely. From 100 litres of milk, 2 kg of butter, 8–10 kg of fresh grana cheese and 80-90 l of milk sierum for pig feeding were obtained, which, after maturation, yielded 6.5–7.0 kg of aged cheese.
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​Panoramic view of the exhibition space “The Dairy”
THE GREAT CEREAL CROPS: RICE, MAIZE AND WHEAT
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These exhibition spaces display agricultural tools collected from Lodigiano farmsteads, used in all stages of the cultivation of rice, wheat and maize: from soil preparation for sowing, to crop management, harvesting, and storage of the product. Among the implements on display are ploughs, rollers, harrows, seed boxes, sickles, spades, weeding spades and hoes, levelling boards, threshing tools, sieves, forks and rakes for separating straw, and many others. Of particular historical importance is an animal-drawn thresher designed in 1852 by Count Gian Giacomo Bolognini, a significant example of early agricultural mechanisation. This tool, drawn across the farmyard, used comb-like working parts to crush ears of grain and release the kernels.
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​​​ Panoramic views of the exhibition spaces dedicated to rice
GRASSLAND FARMING AND THE BARN
These spaces also feature farming tools collected from Lodigiano farmsteads, used for the cultivation of meadows and for barn management.
For grassland farming, the displays include chain harrows, weeding spades, shovels, scythes, sickles, rakes, large hay rakes, whetstones and whetstone holders, anvils, and scythe hammers. For the barn: two wheelbarrows (one for grain, the other for manure), a manure stretcher, root cutters, stalk choppers, milking stools, calf muzzles, horse bits, harnesses, yokes and balancing rods. Of particular interest is a sheep pack-saddle from the Bergamo area, once used to carry the insignia of the owner: on entering the village, it was placed on the most beautiful sheep of the flock. Also displayed among the barn objects is a terracotta statuette of Saint Anthony Abbot, protector of domestic animals.​
​​​ A view of the exhibition spaces dedicated to grassland farming and the barn
THE LABOURER’S HOUSE
This exhibition space recreates, in two separate rooms, the kitchen and bedroom of a typical labourer’s dwelling, which was usually located within the farmstead. The display is set on a single floor, although in reality the kitchen was typically on the ground floor and the bedroom upstairs. The kitchen was the only heated room in the house, thanks to the presence of a fireplace. On display here, in addition to the essential furnishings—a table, some chairs, and two cupboards—are various everyday objects, including a wood-fired stove, pots and pans, crockery and cutlery, mousetraps, a flit sprayer (for DDT, used against flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches), and other utensils. The bedroom features a double bed with bedside tables, two cradles, a metal washstand with ceramic basin, and some peasant clothes and shoes. On the bed are three small braziers filled with embers covered in ash. Inserted into a special frame (prete), these were placed under the covers to provide the warmth needed to get into bed on freezing winter nights. Beside the bed is a structure for silkworm rearing, a source of income which, from the 15th to the early 19th century, was limited to the dry upper plain but later spread also to the lower plain, becoming an important resource for both landowners and labourers. Silkworms were fed exclusively on mulberry leaves, very rich in protein. Bedrooms used for silkworm rearing were whitewashed every year to combat the many diseases that threatened the silkworms.
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Two views of the exhibition space “The Labourer’s House”: the kitchen (left) and the bedroom (right)
