Re: CULT: HYB: Good Irises

It seems to me there are two main reasons that hybridizers do what they do. One
would be for the personal satisfaction of creating a new and better iris. The
other would be for fame and financial gain, if not enough to take early retirement
on then at least finance the hobby. It requires a great deal of trust to send
seelings out to be guested at both national/regional events as well as in
individual gardens. It has not been too long ago when there was a huge uproar over
guests being auctioned or sold over the internet from either a national or
regional convention for next to nothing. For someone like myself who has raised
hundreds of seedlings but has yet to introduce one, the distribution that could
come with such an action may be welcome. For someone like Schrieners, Keppel or
somesuch, that may be financially harmful. There is a limited time where a new
introduction can sell for that higher-than-average price, and early distribution
of that plant could seriously harm sales.
As for non-convention related guesting situations, I know firsthand of situations
where seedlings have been distributed from guest beds without knowledge or consent
of the hybridizer. This is probably why there is reluctance on the part of
hybridizers to widely test seedlings.

Also, as Mike Greenfield said in his post, he has sent 66 rhizomes to several
convention guest locations. That process is not inexpensive, particularly for a
newer hybridizer who will probably not sell enough of a new introduction to cover
the cost of shipping it regardless of how good the seedling/introduction is. And
Anner is absolutely right  in her statement that in attempting such a
comprehensive program that size,complexity and expense will lead to
failure.(please forgive the poor paraphrase)

John Bruce

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