REF: Books for New Hybridizer
- Subject: REF: Books for New Hybridizer
- From: h*@aol.com
- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 09:34:06 EST
From: hipsource@aol.com
In a message dated 2/22/00 10:38:58 PM Eastern Standard Time,
dkramb@badbear.com writes:
<< If you're looking for information on genetics, chromosomes, and
fancy-schmancy scientifc words that are completely unpronouncable, a really
good book is "Iris" by Fritz Kohlein.>>
I disagree about recommending this book to beginners.
A good deal of the cultural information is useful, but the book itself
suffers from a faulty translation from the German and it includes a number of
errors. Furthermore, the orientation is not American. Before anyone seizes on
that last statement as evidence of jingoism and reacts accordingly I will
note that the 'American' it isn't is the 'American' of the American Iris
Society and that matters a great deal because of the international role of
AIS in iris affairs and the fact that Michelle will need to function from a
similar frame of reference.
For some years this book was about the only large one with pictures available
to the general public since WOI is not marketed through book stores, and it
was my first iris book. I value its strengths but I remember well the
confusion it caused me and there frustration of trying to deal with the
layout and graceless language and so forth. When I found The World of Irises,
and especially Brian Mathew's lucid writings, a great sense of relief came
upon me, since it was apparent that some of my comprehension problems with
Kohlein were not a result of not having adequate background in botany, but
inhered in the book itself.
The book that Michelle needs at this point is The World of Irises published
by AIS and available from the AIS Storefront. It is not a sexy read from the
standpoint of style, and it, like the Kohlein, is a bit dated, but those
issues are less important overall than the fact that it contains precisely
the information a new iris enthusiast needs to get a understand the Genus
botanically and also understand the issues and processes involved in
hybridizing irises.
Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com
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