Tobacco cultivation in Amerongen

March 2008

This beautiful topographical image is made in the area of ​​Amerongen, shows the cultivation of tobacco. Particularly characteristic are the high barns, in which the harvested tobacco leaves hung on sticks to dry. For an optimal drying process, valves were fitted in the outside wall of the shed, which could be opened to intensify the air flow. This way, the drying of the tobacco leaves was provoked. A real tobacco field can be seen on the left in front of the high barn, the crop planted in rows. The fact that the plants there are not yet very high could have been caused by the sand gournds of Utrecht that was far less suitable for the tobacco cultivation as was the West-Indies. The road that takes our view into the distance where the farmers bring their cart loads of tobacco leaves is a nice Dutch scene. In short, the print is an instructive picture for a disappeared culture. The engraver is Paulus van Liender, who cut this illutration into the copper plate in 1759.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 19.116

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