HYB - TB: Reg. 7 Irisarian Reprints #12

> A series of articles reprinted from the Region 7 IRISARIAN with myself as
> Editor in 1990-91.  [Gary Sides--Jan. 1998:  Posted to Iris-L]
> 
IS IT PHILOSOPHY?
STEVE STEVENS     Crystal City, MO
	    
The request for articles from Hybridizers started me thinking about some of
the comments you suggested as topics to write about.  The one:  "philosophy
of/theory behind your breeding", makes me stop and think, "Do I really have
a theory about breeding?"
	   
 I will attempt to analyze what I am doing.  It begins by seeing a flower
that really impresses me and then I want to know what is the pedigree
behind that flower.  As you know these can be found in our recorded
"Registrations and Introductions" and our "Check Lists".
	   
 Before I became interested in hybridizing, I was a breeder of Field Trial
Beagles.  We entered dogs in Trials and I could never look at a winner
without making an effort to know the pedigree.  Individual dogs became
Champions after attaining the required amount of wins, and the dog was
offered at Stud in a publication similar to our Iris Bulletin.  The
advertisement usually had a four generation pedigree and a picture of the
dog along with the stud fee for breeding to this individual.  These
published pedigrees were the only means of studying pedigrees because there
were no check lists or registrations published by the American Kennel Club.
	    
We put an awful lot of importance on that pedigree:  the line/inbreeding,
the out-crossing all came into our choosing before selecting a stud for our
females, plus how the female's pedigree would blend with the male pedigree.
 I think thoroughbred race horses use this same philosophy.  Can you
imagine what price a colt would bring that was sired by Secretariate from a
filly by Native Dancer?
	    
In animal breeding the choice of parents is of prime importance, and I feel
the same implies with breeding irises.  We have the Secretariates and
Native Dancers in through our Rippling Waters, Denver Mint, Pink Taffeta
just to mention a few of the oldies, and we are getting new ones every
year.  We keep up with this mainly through reading our National and
Regional Bulletins along with our discussions with other hybridizers, and
don't forget our Registrations and Introductions. I have been hybridizing
since the early 1960's and have purchased a Registrations and Introductions
every year from that time.
	    
So to repeat, firstly I must be impressed by the performance of a flower
and then I delve into its background using that as my basic guide for
choosing parents of my crosses.  Even though four generation pedigrees are
not published with the advertisements in the bulletin, I make myself
acquainted with these details through my library of Check Lists and
Registrations.  This is not to say that all my crosses are all blue printed
prior to making a cross but armed with this information in my consciousness
I then proceed to daub pollen with the inspiration that comes at the time I
am in the garden, carefully keeping good personal records.  If pedigrees
(genealogy) were a major interest to a young hybridizer just starting out,
I would consider this of prime importance to his success later on.  Lately,
I have planted about 25 crosses a year, yielding 200 to 300 seedlings, and
this is about all I seem to be willing to physically contend with.  In the
past I averaged about 700 to a 1000 seedlings per year.
	    
I will make three to five crosses in the red class which I have had some
success with in the past.  But I do not draw the line on colors or
patterns, although 99% of my crosses are in the tall bearded class.
	    
I feel my progress is not as notable as a lot of well known hybridizers
because in general, putting out at least 1000 seedling a year is necessary
for marked progress.
	    
As for the names of individual parents that predominate in my breeding
program:  DENVER MINT, children and grandchildren and the line breeding
thereof has been most rewarding; POST TIME and WAR LORD have also
predominated in the reds; RUFFLED BALLET has been a great parent in the
blue and dark blue class.
	    
I hope this gives a general overview of my activity as a hybridizer.  To
get any more detailed, unless asked to elaborate on a specific detail would
be too complex.
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