Linho (Linum usitatissimum)

This textile plant is cultivated in almost all parishes of Madeira, covering an area of about 150 to 200 hectares. After harvesting, the flax is passed through the rippling comb to remove the chaff, then it is soaked in tanks or in the waters of the streams for 8 to 10 days. After this period, it is left to dry, then it is crushed with a mallet. In order to separate the textile fibers from the woody part that adheres to them, the flax goes through a hackle and then to be scutched, but it is only in the heckling, which is a kind of comb formed of fixed metal teeth on a piece of wood, that the thread is disentangled and can be made thinner, while at the same time separating the tow. Both the flax and the tow are spun on a spinning wheel by women, and the thread obtained in this way is, after being hanked, put in the oven or in lye, then it is sun-bleached. After being bleached, the thread can finally go to the small looms that are scattered in various parts of the island, where the series of operations that the people aptly call the torments of flax comes to an end. The linen fabrics manufactured in Madeira are of excellent quality and very durable, and a good part of the white clothing used by the rural population is made from them. Flaxseed (linseed) is widely used in traditional medicine, but the one found in pharmacies mostly comes from outside the island. The book 'As pequenas Indústrias da Madeira' in the chapter 'O Linho na Madeira' by Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Artur Sarmento is relevant to this subject.