Page:Augustine Herrman, beginner of the Virginia tobacco trade, merchant of New Amsterdam and first lord of Bohemia manor in Maryland (1941).djvu/30



In June 1644 Herrman was associated with Laurents Cornelissen as an agent in New Amsterdam for Peter Gabry and Sons, the prominent merchant traders of Amsterdam, but he probably was connected with the Gabry firm the year before and possibly as early as 1640. By this time his commercial propensities were fully awakened and he sought many means to promote trade between the New World and Amsterdam. In 1644 he made successful experiments in the cultivation of indigo on his farm (bouwery) near the site of the Astor Library. He tried the culture of indigo merely from an experimental standpoint, and as it was not a source of much revenue he discontinued its growth after a few years.

By 1644 the New Amsterdam branch of the Gabry firm had