Re: Pedigree Analysis -- was Database for Tracking Irises

Back in my teens and twenties I spent long hours filling up paper with
pedigree charts.  I found the work fascinating, as I was growing many of the
ancient historics appearing in those pedigrees thanks to a very generous
retired Judge and RVP who lived a few miles from me.  She generously loaned me
her '39 CL, and I had the '49--and bought the '59 when it came out.  In
addition, back in those years, the annual Registrations and Introductions were
mailed out to all the membership instead of being bought separately.

My copies of the annual R&I's were read and marked as avidly as the Check
Lists.  It was an education on what bred what.

Dave, I'm about 12 years ahead of you, I think, in laying aside those
responsibilities that mean I *must* get up and go, meet other peoples'
expectations and so on.  Now, it's my wife who has expectations, and she is
*much* harder to say "no" to than to those others I used to be obligated to.

So--now that I'm retired, I can play with pedigrees, sleep in, get up in the
middle of the night and crack open the TWOI or anything else I find
interesting, and once it is daylight either stay in or go out to putter in the
garden, at least as long as I remember to set out the garbage on Wednesday
mornings and do a few other chores with such things as bank reconciliations,
paying the monthlies and so on.

As to how many generations matter---let me share a tale.  In researching the
ancestry of 'Romantic Evening' the first time I went all the way back on parts
of the pedigree.  Sometimes Joe Ghio's pedigrees are difficult to untangle,
even though they are written meticulously well.  I found his habit of breeding
half-sibs--or three-quarter sibs--sure did open up space on the pedigree chart
to pursue further generations on the other lines.

Then I forgot some of those deep roots of 'Romantic Evening's' ancestry and
much later got involved in a discussion in Iris-talk about the curious effect
the Progenitor-based dominant amoena I(s) factor has with RE.  I made some
remark about the variety acted as if there were aphylla ancestry involved but
I could not see any.

Mike Lowe responded that back that in the seventeenth generation in 'Romantic
Evening's' past there were several instances of aphylla derived varieties.  I
went back to my digging and took the whole pedigree back beyond eighteen
generations and uncovered even more.  'Black Forest' and other sources of
'black' breeding, owing the depth of color presumably to Iris aphylla
modifiers or pigments, were present.

Influences reappearing that many generations later is astounding!  They were,
however, and I see even more evidence of the influence in children and
grandchildren of 'Romantic Evening.'

Usually in four or five generations are sufficient to uncover all the
information that matters for the moment--but in some cases, very deep
multi-generation digging is productive.  It is also rather fun.

Neil Mogensen  z 7 western NC mountains--where we are back to rain, rain,
rain.

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