This question is directed to Jon and other fig-head connoisseurs 
out of curiosity do any of you ladies & gents know how fig are bread for new variety?
we keep hearing Ira Condit , LSU & UCR varieties yet no idea what was done to achieve those variates.
was it manual pollination, grafting ..... etc !!
what was it?
Have you tried anything like that Jon? and is there reading material on this subject?

See Ray Givans

They require pollination to get viable seed. The goal of the Condit program at UCR in the 1950s was a common fig (not requiring pollination) that had the same characteristics (color, dry-ability) as the Calimyrna (which requires pollination). Many of the numbered figs at USDA/UC Davis are leftovers from that attempt.

Very interesting!  I was wondering what those numbered varieties are.  So does this mean they failed as NEW varieties, and are basically a clone of something else?  It would be cool to have a list of those numbered varieties and what known fig they are similar to.
Suzi

There is more to it than to say they failed.
I think some are very good cultivars from California,(for California)but replacing a whole Orchard that have Calymirna figs ,productive and still young(let say 30 years young),is not something that can be done without spending a tone of Money,and loses till the new figs become adults,at about 7 years old.
So large orchard,Bussiness, are reluctant to risk and loose it all. 

Jon. when you say "pollination to get viable seed".
any idea @ what stage if fruit life is this done?
and were they using fine artist brush like we currently do to pollinate Cherimoya to get into the fig and where from the fig do you get the male pollen ?
I know for the past few years from cross pollinating Iris bulbs and replanting the seed we got different new colors ; the same results were achieved with day lilies and squash.
that's why I'm quite curios about the breading posses of figs , yet no available documentation.!!