I do not understand why every one gives condit so much credit. He copied Il fico, nozioni botaniche ,by Ferdinando Vallese and didn't translate the works well at all. And under every described fig he cites Vallese 1909 publishing. Vallese wrote another book in 1895 a out figs too. There are figs he described as Smyrna type that even I myself have and it produces no wasp in nj.  He was published 20 years after his visit to europe. His "breeding program" produced 2 figs worth anything. Encanto has produced figs of a higher caliber than condit by accident. This web site has more information about this fruit than you'll find in condits book and pictures of fruit leaves and Breba. Condit has what 5 pic in bw. 

Thanx for the vote of confidence.

I am not so sure I would be so hard on Condit. Life, and information, were a lot different 100 years ago.

Also, Condit had a goal when he was breeding: to produce a common fig that had all of the characteristics of Calimyrna without needing caprification. That is why so many of the figs from the program, which survive at USDA/UC Davis are yellow in color. He was after flavor, size, color, and usefulness for drying. That was a very small target. Today we just have to happen upon a "good" one, that performs well, and tastes good.

Yeah, but you know, economically, O'Rourke might even be, in the long run, more significant a figure for producing figs with commercial potential.

I can't speak for anyone else but I give Condit credit because HE EARNED IT.

Here is part of what Storey, Enderud, Saleeb, & Nauer said about Condit in their 1977 publication "The Fig":

    "When he joined the University faculty in 1912, universities were not large and departments were very small, consequently teachers had to be “professors of universal knowledge”.  In addition to teaching botany and horticulture, he did research and wrote on various horticultural subjects including avocado, loquat, olive, and others, as well as his beloved fig.  His published works add up to 230 titles.  His illustrated book “The Fig”, published in 1947, has long been out of print and copies are eagerly sought at rare book stores.

     In his time he became — and still is - the world’s foremost authority on figs.  Agriculturists from all of the fig growing countries of the Mediterranean region and Middle East wrote to him or came to see him personally, seeking information and advice.

     In 1956, he introduced a hybrid fig into the trade with the name ‘Conadria’.  Unlike all other fig cultivars which were selected somewhere, by persons known or unknown through many centuries, it, insofar as is known, is the first to have been created by a plant breeder with certain objectives in mind.  Later he introduced ‘Excel’ and ‘Flanders’."

It's one thing to be blind, it quite another (even sadder) to just refuse to see. Why let opinion be clouded by facts?

Crying out "fact!" is nothing more than the proverbial slap on the table.  Insignificant.  What would be more useful would be an argument helping out kiwibob, you know...say, well, hey, Condit made Bouwen's work apparent to all!  Or something.  Anything more useful than a personal assertion about wooden-headedness.

What facts, the fact that condits monograph shows no real photos or drawings of leaves and figs side by side like eisen did, Pierre Baud and other authors who dont get any credit around here like.

Let me guess its much easier to post a link to condits monograph and send someone to read 500 pages of descriptions and try and ID their unkown right? 

The whole problem here is too much credit for condit not enough for everyone else before him and after him.

Plain and simple and if you cant understand why this whole topic was started your are clearly stupid.

Well, What Bothers me the most,is that I Condit,made this Hybrid ,that he named after himself,that is called Conadria,and so I grew it,and also I grew The original mother plant,The Adriatic,that Conadria was made from,and the results were.
The Conadria Hybrid is a lot inferior,to the original Adriatic he started with.
So I do not see the reason someone will release,like an accomplishment a new hybrid that is inferior to the original plant.
Of course I fill bad because i wasted time ,rooting ,and growing it to, find out it is bland tasting it has a large eye ,it splits and sour easy,as soon as it rains.
My hopes when I  got it was, that this Conadria ,especially being called Conadria, would be my answer to my bad rainy climate,because it was created,and selected By the Famous Horticulturist Ira Condit, but I was very disappointed after about three years taking care of it.
It does not make sense to me!.

Herman,
I have 2 Conadrias in 15 gallon buckets that are 7 years old. Last summer the figs were bland. Not bad and not split - just not great. The 5 years of figs before that, however the Conadrias were some of my favorite figs. They have never shown any signs of FMV and produce extremely well. One has bright red pulp and one has amber pulp with some red infused. I wonder how much variation there is in these varieties. If you ever want to try again - just let me know.
mgg

For some reason, some people (not me) seem to dislike all figs that
come from one of the best USA-fig-heavens ; aka., California!?

Since we are expressing opinions, here is my two cents.

There is more information on figs contained here on this site than has ever been published by anyone, any where, any time.  The collective knowledge and information here makes this forum the foremost authority on figs in the world.  I believe that Dr. O'Rourke was most effective in research and development.

Not worth an argument, only my opinion.

I wish the breeding program had been more ambitious, but I don't think I understand just how ambitious the Condit program was in the first place.  I mean, I'd think that doing a cross of Bourjasotte Gris/Socorro Black or Zidi with 72-80 would potentially generate more vigorous and highly producing large common figs with skins thick enough for shipping fresh, like Violette Soleis, only it can do it in non-Medit climates.  Then again, I have no familiarity with the difficulty of breeding or getting funding.

O'Rourke seems to have generated more potentially profitable figs in less time.

Maybe five years ago I read that the quantity of information was currently doubling ever 18 months, or something like that, while 150 or 200 years ago it took 100 years to double our collective knowledge.  What a tremendous change, thanks largely to Al Gore for inventing the Internet! ;)

OMG!  Al Gore invented the internet?  AND global warming?  Who is responsible for all this freezing we have?  Hail here, snow there....Wow!  Woopie Goldberg, right?

Dr O 'Rourke produced only a few Hybrid cultivars,but each of them is
superior in taste ,flavor and adverse climatic conditions,adaptations,to any Hybrid Ira Condit produced.
This is not here say,but my actual experience growing the cultivars and comparing them side by side.