BRIDGMAN NURSERY COMPANY, BRIDGMAN, MICHIGAN 
7 
merly. If you have access to a good lot of manure 
you are all right. Twenty tons to an acre will 
put your land in condition to bring you splendid 
returns. Pulverized sheep manure is within the 
reach of most all. The nitrates, phosphates, guano, 
and others all are good as your soil may need 
them. Strawberries are great producers and need 
food. , , 
It is a good plan to spread your manure, horse 
or cattle, nice and evenly, and go over it with a 
disc or common spring drag. It will pay to do 
this several times before you plant your field. 
Unpack the Plants When they Reach You 
We call your attention to the shipment when it 
reaches you, and we wish to impress upon you 
this point. Liberate them as soon as you can, 
get them out of the package they came in, cut open 
the bunches and set them out in a trench of moist, 
loose soil, about as deep or a little deeper than 
you would if you were planting them permanently. 
They may touch each other in this trench; make 
an opening large enough to take the roots, place 
your plants in it, get the soil up against the roots 
and firm them on each side of the row, leaving no 
air spaces. Should the plants be dry, take each 
bunch and dip the roots in water, drain off a little 
so they won't be mussy, and set in the trench. 
Do not wait until tomorrow, nor after dinner, but 
now. They can be left in this trench a long 
while and still be in condition for setting out. 
You will be surprised how nice they will straight- 
en up in 24 hours. If anything is wrong you will 
know it next morning. 
Preparing Your Soil 
If you are a farmer and can raise crops as good 
as your neighbor, you need but little talk on the 
subject. The main feature of preparing soil is the 
ease with which they can be taken care of. Re- 
member about firming the plant well when it is set. 
Mulching 
If you live in a country where your soil heaves 
out the wheat, clover, and so on, in the winter 
time, mulch your plants with wheat straw, wild 
grass, or pine needles. Anything that will pre- 
vent repeated freezing and thawing during the 
winter. The best time to apply the mulch is when 
the ground is frozen so you can go on it with 
your team. . 
When the leaves commence to perk up in the 
spring rake off toward the center. 
Fertilizers for an Acre of Ground 
You expect and want a good crop, a fancy lot of 
berries. Don't expect to get them unless you 
help them along as much as you possibly can. 
They are going to require fertilizer and plenty of 
it, and also good drainage. Spread 15 to 25 loads 
of manure over the ground, disc and drag it in 
before plowing. Also bone meals, acid, phosphate, 
and potash up to 250 pounds, all thoroughly scat- 
tered and worked into the soil. A good clover 
patch is nearly as good with the addition of some 
manure. But if neither of these may be had, 
any good garden soil will more than repay you 
for your time and trouble. Make your rows 2% 
to 3 feet apart with plants 15 to 20 inches apart. 
Set them as we tell you, firmly in the ground, 
and then go after them with your garden tools. 
Early Orders 
We will allow a discount of five per cent on all 
orders of $10.00 or over which reach us before the 
first of March. 
Season 
Wo sometimes ship strawberry plants in March, 
The season is thoroughly open first of April, and 
then on to the end of May. 
We Grow Plants Nature's Way 
This has been one of the hottest and driest sea- 
sons we have ever experienced. However, through 
intensive cultivation we were able to grow a fair 
sized crop of hardy plants. The season being dry, 
the roots are much longer than usual, and this will 
enable the plants to stand a long journey, and they 
will root and grow much better. 
Inspection 
Our plants are thoroughly inspected by highly 
qualified and authorized inspectors before being 
dug and you can rest assured you will receive only 
strictly healthy plants of the very best quality. 
Express Shipments 
Now that the government has taken oyer the 
transportation lines and express companies, the 
delivery of goods has been placed on a more satis- 
factory basis. An express shipment does not re- 
quire re-billing at certain points as hertofore, but 
goes through to its destination without delay. 
Our agent says, "We shoot her right through this 
year. Twenty-four hours to New York." This 
saving of time on express shipments means better 
service to you. 
General Culture of Strawberries 
May be summed up in a few lines: 
Soil in good condition. Good plants well set. 
Care after planting, and mulching if your soil 
heaves. 
Parcels Post 
We can now ship plants by Parcels Post, and 
they will go through very satisfactorily. As high 
as 70 pounds may be shipped in one lot to the 
second zone. gnd 3rd 4th 
zone zone zone zone 
1 pound $0.05 $0.05 $0.06 $0.07 
2 pounds 06 .06 .08 
3 pounds 07 .07 .10 
4 pounds 08 .08 .12 
5 pounds 09 .09 
10 pounds 14 .14 
15 pounds 19 -19 
20 pounds 24 .24 
25 pounds 29 .34 
30 pounds 34 .34 
35 pounds 39 .39 
40 pounds 44 .44 
45 pounds 49 .49 
50 pounds 54 .54 
On all packages where postage is more than 25 
cents there is a war tax of one cent for each 25 
cents or fractional part. 
We should venture to say that more Strawberry 
plants are grovm in this immediate vicinity than 
in any other section of the world. This seems to 
be nature's selection for strawberry plant life. 
They have a long time to ripen and harden up 
before the winter weather comes, when they are 
usually covered with snow, which gives them the 
covering of nature, and just enough cold to harden 
up and have them in fit condition to ship to any 
distant point. The plants always come out in the 
spring time in the very best condition, full of real 
active life and energy, and are immune to any 
changes of climate you may subject them to. This 
is one of the reasons why they are prime favorites 
all over this country. In all our dealings with 
our customers we have never had one say that the 
plants would not grow, if the package arrived in, 
or anywhere near, the time that a package is sup- 
posed to travel from us to the customer. Plants 
that are grown in a warm, sunny climate and are 
used to continual sunshine and have seen no win- 
ter of any kind are apt to be too tender, and the 
change from there to your locality might not be as 
sure of success as those grown farther north. 
.11 
15 
19 
.16 .23 
.24 .43 
.34 .63 
.44 .83 
