I bought a second copy on eBay...for under a dollar! And it's been called "rare" by booksellers. Shipping was a tad excessive. I'll give it to a local friend who's just getting into irises.
I also looked up some facts about aureomyin, after Arlyn's warning. I usually eschew any kind of chemicals in the garden, and I've only ever had one case of rot so far...but I thought it might be a useful tool for treatment if rot comes back, since I seem to be particularly sensitive to bleach and don't use it in the laundry or cleaning. I get respiratory problems when I breathe it in.
What surprised me about aureomycin was to learn that it is regularly fed to cattle, pigs, chickens, etc! And we ingest it when we eat the meat of those animals! I try to always buy organic.
I'm going to start giving a few of my irises the dilute skim milk treatment, just for my own test.. I figure 300 iris growers can't be totally wrong!
