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Hank Mathies

I've read all old postings on both forums, and a name that keeps cropping up is the name of..... HANK MATHIES.

Please tell me: who, what, where, when, how, and why this gentleman is famous in the world of figs?  I cannot find any background information regarding this man.  Was/is he a special collector?

Just curious.

Frank
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Pretty sure he introduced the US to Hardy Chicago, but that is about the limit of my knowledge
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Well, some sad news to pass along.   Hanc passed away in 2009.    He did introduce and re-introduce some figs varieties that are still traded today.   Some that went through his hands at one time or another include:  Agrigento, Atreano, Eastern Brown Turkey, Corynth, Sals (E.L, Belleclare Nursery#39), etc.


Ingevald
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Hanc Mathies was a friend to many fig collectors,  and a true fig lover. Hanc collected several dozen different figs over the years, and tested them at his Long Island location. He passed many of them on to BelleClare, Paul Traceski, Michale at Edible Landscaping, and many more fig lovers.

 
 I have been told that in Hanc's later years he got tired of winterizing so many figs, each year. As Hanc got older, he kept only two figs out of the dozens he had. they were Atreano, which in my mind is one of the best white figs one can taste. The other fig he kept was a English Brown Turkey. a Brown Turkey that became known as Hanc's' Mathies English Brown Turkey.
 
I had been told that Hanc's English Brown Turkey was very, very hard to propagate. So this spring a good friend and fig collector sent to me a small plant of Hanc's English Brown Turkey. Being aware of it having a reputation of being difficult to root, I decide to air layer part of it. This is the only fig I have not been able to at least air layer.So, it does appear to be hard to propagate.
 
Hanc stumbled across his English Brown Turkey from Miller's Nursery in up state New York. and they had obtained it from a wholesaler somewhere in the South.Several collectors have tried to obtain the same English Brown Turkey, from Millers over the years, that Hanc serendipity found.
 
Later when some collectors had trees big enough to show to the rest of the fig collector world, Herman believes that it really is not a English Brown Turkey. But, that in fact it's a variant  of Southern Brown Turkey. I tend to agree with Herman, as to it's true identify. If it's really an English Brown Turkey, then it's the smallest English Brown Turkey, that I have every seen. 
 
In my mind it makes no difference as to the name. only that out of dozens of Hanc's figs, the only two he decided to keep were his Hanc's English Brown Turkey, and Atreano. Both are outstanding figs. 
 
Hanc's English Brown Turkey is more cold Hardy then Atreano. Some believe it can be grown as far north as zone 4b, WITH WINTER PROTECTION. It's biggest drawn back appears to be the difficulty in propagating it.
 
 
Although I would only rate Atreano as being cold hardy through zone 7, Atreano is a. must have fig for the collector. There are now several different nurseries selling what they are calling Atreano. If you want a true Atreano, I would suggest one do some home work to make sure you get the right one. 
 
Noss, says it has an explosion of flavor, when one bites into it. Plus, it is a very heavy bearer.
 
Thank you Hanc Mathies for two outstanding figs.
 
Bob, zone 5 Connecticut
 
 
 
 
 
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Bob you Misspelled it ,it is Atreano not Adriano.
Adriano is a different cultivar named by Adriano nursery in Canada,and he named it.
Then there is another fig that has a close name :
It is called Adriana and was imported by Giuseppe Tozzi.
This one I grew and is Very similar to Kadota if not it.
I also grow Adriano now to see if it is good as Adriano say it is.
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Thanks for proof reading Herman.


I thought I had corrected all the incorrect words. But apparently I missed that one.

The correction has been made. The last thing we need is more name confusion with figs.

Bob, zone 5 Connecticut 
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Thanks for the Mathies story. One of the things I am really enjoying is fig lore.

 

Last night I was reading about Atreano at Jon's site, and that lead to a fig called Agrigento. I don't know whose words (below) those are, but it's interesting. I tried to find something about Agrigento fig but couldn't find much. I'd love to get it - visited Agrigento a few years ago and the ruins there are some of my all-time favorites.

 

http://figs4fun.com/Varieties.html

 

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You're right about Atreano. Here, it is consistent but needs to ripen well to
appreciate any flavor. There are better figs and I think the Agrigento is one of
them. Personally, I use Kadota as the benchmark for flavor and sweetness I
expect in a white fig. The one in the photo[s] is smaller than the average for
the variety. Most of them come close to the size of Atreano in comparison. As
you can see by the leaves, it is very sensitive to FMV. The original cuttings
were given to me by Hanc [Mathies] when he sent me his Atreano. IMHO, I thought
the flavor was better than Atreano. Atreano really needs to ripen fully to
appreciate any flavor from it. Agrigento isn't that way.
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Long Island Green was another fig Hank Mathies shared with Bellclare.

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Your right about Long Island Green.


Paul Tracesky once told me that he thought His Sal's EL was more cold hardy then Hardy Chicago. Then we later learned that Hanc's English Brown Turkey was more cold hardy the Sal's EL. But, that Hanc's Long Island Green was even more cold hardy then his Hanc's English Brown Turkey.

We have been searching for Hanc's Long Island Green for years. We have been able to locate several sources stating they have it. 

We were also told that Hanc's Long Island Green did not taste as good as his Hanc's English Brown Turkey. Then alone the way Belleclare came up with a fig they simply called Long Island. Then the two got mixed up and now no one that we have talked to, knows which is which now.

Since our interest with figs is to find locate and test cold hardy figs for the north into zone 4, we would be very much interested in purchasing a plant or cuttings from some one who got their start of Long Island Green directly from Hanc.

Bob - Zone 5 Connecticut

 
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A little while back, one FF member did 'hint' that Hanc (sadly) passed away.

I suggested that someone that really knew him pay some tribute/acknowledge in his remembrance.

 

I never successfully communicated with Hanc, so I do not really know him.
But I have heard many, many good things about his love for figs,
and him introducing new fig varieties to USA.


I am a proud owner of quite a few of his figs too.

 

He was a private/humble fig enthusiast that seldom posted on the FFs.

 

He was also the person that first introduced BelleClare Nursery to

Martha Steward that made BC famous by one of her TV shows.

Sadly, Hanc never got any credit for it.


Hanc was also an real/active chemist and owned a company that sells Pequa products:

http://www.pequa.com/

While needing some drain opener and being at Lowes this morning,

I choose the  'Pequa' brand... 

 

Thanks much Hanc for all your good deeds,

and may your soul for ever rest in peace.
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Thanks to all the posters who gave me, us, the information about this man.  I heard his name many times, but had no idea how deeply he was involved with the figs we now know and seek.

I'm glad I asked some questions, and grateful for the answers.  Eat a fig in Hank's memory.

Frank

PS :  Zaino's Garden Center and Nursery stocked "Atreano Gold" ...supposedly propagated from Belleclare stock.  (516-333-7097).  located in Westbury, NY...Long Island.  My original trees we purchased from them back in 2007.  Great, golden-yellow figs.  I still have the trees....they  get better every year.
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It would be nice to know others who have contributed much to the fig community
like Paul Tracesky, Todd Kennedy, Richard Watts, BC etc

Good thread Frank. Thanks.
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I know for a fact that my Atreano Gold came from Belleclare. I was able to track down the source of my tree. Wish I had the pleasure of meeting Hanc.
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Dennis, I never met Hanc either. But, I hear other fig collector friends talk about him, when I'm talking to them.


They tell me Hanc, was among a hand full of fig collectors who regularly  traded cuttings, back in 1990's, with people Paul Tracesky, Bill & Chris at Belleclare,and Michael at Edible Landscaping.

I think it's nice that he is remembered by so many fig collectors. Even by those of us who never met him.

Dennis, I have always wondered why Zanino's Garden Center called their version of Atreano, Golden Atreano? Is it a mutation of the original Atreano, and does it taste better then the Original Areano?

Bob - Zone 5 Connecticut

  
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I'm a bit slow....just realized I spelled HANC's name the wrong way.   Mea culpa.

F
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Not really a, "Mea culpa" Frank.


It's hard to know when a person's name you have heard, is spelled differently from what is normal. Or you read it in the past and then forget how it was spelled.

I do it all the time. My excuse is I'm an old guy.

But, what you did was to create a discussion that informed a lot of new fig growers know who some of the people were. People who led the way for a lot of us in selecting figs for certain attributes.

It saves a lot of time if those of us who want figs for different things are able to select from those who have gone before us.

Bob - zone 5 Connecticut
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Bob...

Thank-you for the kind words.  I was gratified to read that others were also interested to know more about this man.

I wish I knew more about the other fig collectors mentioned in some responses.

Who is Paul Tracesky...."Gene"...and others who introduced all the great varieties?  I would love to know.

I predict that in the coming years we will be talking about Jon/Encanto farms....Bass/Trees of Joy...of course, Herman2....Al/tapla, and others who have given us a tremendous wealth of useful information so we could grow better fig trees.

Without these collector/growers who share so easily, we would be much poorer in knowledge, and worse, have fewer fig varieties to chose, and grow to perfection.

Thanks,

Frank
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....Also, don't forget about our great forum member, George (Gorgi), who has introduced many unique fig varieties such as- Maltese Falcon, Malta Purple Red and many more from Malta into the US. George, thank you for your hard work and for giving us the chance to grow these great figs.
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Take a look at this link http://www.raysfiginfo.com/myfigs.html   You will find Paul Tracewski's name mentioned a few times.    He once had a large collection of "heirloom" figs that he found in ethnic neighborhoods.    It has been several years since I last communicated with him, but the only fig that he maintained and had left in his collection was Sals E.L.   He was the one that found it on Long Island, shared it and is the reason we know about it.   See "Sals" on this page http://www.eastcoastfigs.com/orchlist.html for the complete story on that fig.  The story is also here http://figs4fun.com/Info/Info_Sals.html


Ingevald
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