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== The traditional Traditional flax crop of flax ==
Flax is one of the oldest textile plants in Europe and has been used since Neolithic times<ref>Telesforo de ARAZANDI. ''Folklore y costumbres de España''. Tomo I. Barcelona: 1911-1925, p. 355.</ref>. In Euskal Herria [the greater Basque Country], there is no known folklore about its introduction or the time to sow the crop as is the case with wheat or with corn.
== Spinning ==
The work of spinning, ''harigintza'' or ''gorugintza'', was performed in groups; usually on winter evenings and was part of the social life of the villages. The local women would meet in one of the homes on the agreed day. Chatting away and working by candlelight, they would spin the thread until late at night, ''goruetan'' (Zeanuri-B, Ataun, Zerain-G), ''ardazketa'' in Urdiain (N) until .
The tools that they used for that work were the distaff, ''gorue'' (Zeanuri, Dima-B), ''liñaie'' (Ataun-G), ''lilaja'', (Urdiain-N) and the spindle, ''ardatza'', and were provided by each weaver.
Esparto grass was not sown. Wild clumps of this plant were gathered in August. They were dried for 20 days. A wooden mallet was used to hit and crush the wads. Once they were crushed, they were dampened and a thick hard fibre was obtained. The esparto ropes were woven by hand and used to be used for espadrille soles. Yet those soles were poorer in quality than the ones made out of hemp. As it was so rough, esparto grass was also used to clean floors and containers.
{{DISPLAYTITLE: VIII. GROWING CULTURE OF FLAX AND HEMP}} {{#bookTitle:Agriculture in the Basque Country|Agricultura_en_vasconia/en}}