I haven't seen this before. Kind of interesting

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290902870278&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:3160

If nothing else, the seller gives some pretty interesting data on the fig wasp, and carpi figs with pictures, diagrams, and informative text. I am not planning on a purchase, but I am saving all the info for further reading.

Jazzbass, thanks for sharing,  that article has come closer to giving me a better understanding of the fig was than any previous.  Good info and superb illustrations

Thanks for the article.

Found the amount of information to be a surprising wealth and filled with pretty good citation to boot. 

There are good sources in the US for caprifigs. The best I can recommend is the UC Davis where we all get figs from already. I placed my order last summer and got all the caprifigs I ordered in with the regular shipment. Was able to obtain a lot of the ones which went into previous breeding programs which resulted in our current varieties. 

Thanks, that was a good read. Very informative.

Thx - nice read.

Information are good,but the last information stating that without wasp Ca would not have a fig industry,that is debatable.
Spain has a fig industry and the main cultivar for commercial growers is Col de Dame,an self fertile cultivar that needs not fig wasp.
And trust me,it is better tasting than Smyrna figs ,and climate in Ca is perfect for growing Col de Dame.
Why it was not grown:Big wigs at Ca UCD,did not like dark red as interior,so they  avoided it.
In case fig wasp introduction did not happen, Col de dame would have been the King of fruits in Ca.

I did not hear it as here say:It is mentioned in Gustav Eisen, Writtings.
The California Fig industry ,evaluated all figs from England collection they received in 1900,and eliminated ,from the start all cultivars with red interior on the base that the fig paste will be colored and they wanted Honey color only.
The funds for the Fig reaserch,was from Ca Dept of agr,so reaserch was done to find or create hybrids,with amber interior.
Smyrna has Amber interior,so it became favorite tho,caprification by wasp,introduces diseases and fungus inside fruits creating a lot of problems
On the other hand,if Smyrna cultivar is so superior how come that no country that grows fig comercially (except),Turkey grow it.
Spain, Grows Col de Dame, France grow Col de Dame and Barnisotte  black,Italy grow Barnisotte white and black,and Atreano as comercial crops.
All these cultivars are parthenocarpic,and self fertile.
The Fig wasp is present in these countries,yet they prefer self fertile cultivars.
None of them grow Smyrna,Why?.
I doubt ,the reason is ,because they are not enough smart,to know what is superior and what is not.

H2, the period you are writing about pre-dates NCGR at Davis and NCGR has nothing to do with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.  The big wigs you referred to are dead and long gone.  I honestly haven't read much about the establishment of the California fig industry but, like now, it was primarily a dried fig market since transportation of ripe figs has always been a problem.  I think a dried Calimyrna is more attractive than a dried Mission and imagine that many people feel the same way.  In the relatively small fresh fig industry in California, Black Mission seems to dominate and that's probably because it has been widely available and considered to be a pretty good fig.  I've worked with a lot of very large growers throughout the state and it is quite rare for a grower to seek a variety that is not readily available.  I'm a small farmer (just starting out with figs) and get lots of odd looks from other growers when they see all the things I'm growing that they've never heard of.  I seriously doubt many California fig growers have any idea of how many varieties are available.

I certainly don't know the history of the fig industry in other countries but imagine, like here, that growing decisions are largely based on production costs as well as market acceptance.  Growing a common fig eliminates one more cost as well as the typical reliance on a supplier of the caprifigs.  Francisco (lampo) has written that his favorite fig in Portugal is a smyrna type fig.  Portugal certainly has some pretty good common figs to choose from.  Francisco has said that new plantings are usually of common figs.  These growers obviously have not just recently discovered common figs but I suspect their growing decisions are based on production cost savings and ease.

Many people here have shared their opinion that even a common fig pollinated by the wasp tastes superior to the same variety without the presence of the wasp.  If wasps cause disease problems as you indicate, Col de Dame and others will suffer the problems also when grown in those areas with a long history of fig production.  Fig wasps are good as long as their numbers are not excessive.

The big wigs may be dead and long gone but the policy they wanted,is alive ant continued today,does not matter who is doing the research now,or the name of the organization.
Look at the new hybrids they created in the 90.
They grew more than 2 thousands hybrids,and ,selected Sierra and Sequoia,2 new hybrids selections,that both are with Amber interior,just like it was set up to be in 1900,tho this time they suposse to be selected for fresh Market.Coincidence? I do not think so!
Not only that but the sooner the Hybrids grew,wood,they took scions,and grafted it on existing caprifig trees,caprifigs that are usually infected with FMV,while the hybrid is healthy,when coming from seed,but most likely will be no more after being grafted,to an infected tree.
Then after that they start distribution of scions.
So the plan of the old wigs is alive and going strong,in my opinion!
NOW let look of a different fig reaserch program:
LSU ,Program,and Dr O "Rourke,A program that they had only a little fraction of the Money allocated to Ca Program!
His Hybrids come in all exterior and interior color,none are bland as ,Ca Hybrids,and all of them,I mean each one of them is totally healthy,strong growers,superproductive.
Why:Doctor O'Rourke had only it's own agenda:to produce better fruit trees for ,Louisiana and the south.
Of course he never grafted ,the new hybrids,on existent cultivars,he just grew the seedlings and choose the best fruiting ones with the closest eye.
Thank you again Dr O "Rourke especially for the cultivars that can be grown in cold climates like Improved Celeste,which is gold here.
By the way:I discarded the last California Hybrid last Fall after showing the same problem:Bland taste.

Some cultures like the extra nut factor of caprified figs.

I think the larger issue is that labor costs more in Spain and France, and using Smyrna figs as a commercial operation just adds costs, for the extra weeding, the more care to get even fertilization, etc, etc, etc.  I do think, should you want very large figs that are also flavorful, Violette de Sollies is practically the only common cultivar that combines both size and taste comparable to the large figs of Greece and Turkey.  If you're fine with smaller, 60g or so figs, then other common varietals would be in the game as well.

Well Sir:Violette de Sollies.is the same cultivar the Italians call Barnisotte Black,and is also called Fico Africano,as it was first found in Northern Africa.
I agree is handsome large superflavorfull and reasonably hardy,as I had one in my Back yard that fruitted,but died from a bad case of fig mosaic virus, similar to the strain Ischia Black has,and I had both from Ca Germaplasm.
Very good cultivar if a healthy one can be secured from a good source that did not spent time at the Ca Repository.
It seem it put a spell on any precious cultivar,there.

UCD Barnisotte is typically smaller than the figs in France.  And there are obviously different strains going around, so I just go with the AOC defined strain.

Yes that is true there can be more strains,but the UCD Barnisotte is not bad,by the contrary it is exquisite tasting.Here is a pix:
Of course if it was not infected with the debilitating Fig mosaic virus,it will be even larger in size,and much more cold resistant.
Yet it died,after 4 years of struggle here,in NJ backyard.
A memorable cultivar,tho,and way better than any hybrid existent in Ca Collection.Should I add it has totally solid interior,and no problem with bugs getting in!
"But of course" it has bright red interior,so it was not good enough to be grown commercially,by whomever was the decider,in Ca.!
To me it is obvious,why French and Italian people ,grow it commercially,you do not have to be a scientist to notice something special.

H2, you've gone from naming the culprits as being USDA NCGR (Davis) to CDFA and now to USDA ARS (Parlier).  I know of no "policy" such as you refer to.  I also have not read anything about what the objectives were of the ARS breeding project but Sierra is described as being a dual-purpose fig while Sequoia is said to be too dark when dried to be used for that purpose.  It's not said whether they were breeding to develop more dried fig varieties or if they were looking for new fresh market varieties.  Again, there is no big plan to prevent California growers from growing figs with dark red interiors.  Over 3,000 acres of Mission are grown in California and growers can easily get cuttings of Col de Dame (Blanc) from NCGR if they wanted to grow it.

I propose that before discarding your last California hybrid (Sequoia or Sierra), maybe you should have acquired some wasps to improve the flavor.  Warmer weather in California likely produces a better-tasting fig of many varieties than you can grow there.

I grow about 70 varieties of pomegranates and have shipped mixed variety boxes of fruits to customers.  What some people will call bland will be identified as the favorite by others (i.e., Azadi, Ganesh).  Some people prefer pomegranates with a rich sweet-tart taste while others prefer more of the sweet types.  I prefer both types but don't find many people without a strong preference for one way or the other.  Many people do love figs which you would surely consider to be bland.  Even though figs such as Zidi have been highly regarding at NCGR tasting events at Wolfskill, a fellow CRFG member that attends these events insisted that I had to grow the cuttings of Adriatic that she gave me because she says everybody says it's the best fig they've tasted.

I have about 80 varieties of figs now and most have dark red interiors.  I plan to try to market fresh figs locally and to some restaurants and will expand my plantings if these efforts are successful.  I will also maintain some caprifigs so that quality can be the best it can be.

HarveyC, the original people were looking for a common fig version of Sari Lop, and wanted a fig that was interchangeable with what Sari Lop was used for.  That has marketing issues, including the dried appearance.  Nobody wanted to put marketing muscle behind dried figs that looks like fecal matter.

The issue was that these guys had to breed for too many characteristics at once, for industrial agriculture purposes that had rather narrow requirements.  O'Rourke bred for fewer characteristics, and for an industry with forgiving requirements where he was.  Ironically, it looks like O'Rourke varieties will be almost as commercially successful as the Condit varieties.  Also, we have to wait for many more successful trees in many more locations so as to grab a working gene profile for that particular location (and good bud sports). 

You wrote that O'Rourke's varieties will be almost as commercially successful as Condit's varieties.  I'm not discounting the quality of O'Rourke's varieties in any fashion but am curious if any of O'Rourke's varieties grown on any signficant scale as I have not read of this.

I became involved in this discussion for two reasons - smyrna type figs were criticized and wasps were said to be a problem, not a benefit.  I don't care who bred what, I'm just dealing with what we hobbyists and small growers have available to grow today.

California is the most current USA best-place to grow them figs.
It is even blessed with the (in)famous fig-wasp.
There are also some (good) natural 'wild' F.carica variates yet to be discovered there...

O'Rourke's hits are more vigorous and more successful in more environments.  They play a pretty big part of UPick farms in the South, so I understand.  Also, when we hear talk of new fig orchards (especially outside of California), we usually hear talk of LSU Gold, rather than Tena or Excel.  We also can import dried figs cheap while we can't ship fresh figs easily--of course, this does mean that Emerald Strawberry and other discards, as well as more carefully ripened Calimyrna, Zidi, and Excel should become more important.  However, the O'Rourke varietals seems to be more widespread, with much more people experienced in giving them what they want.  Lastly, these american varietals will have to directly compete for orchard spots from proven French, Spanish, etc, varietals.  Middle Georgia, for instance, probably can grow Violette de Sollies, dunno how profitably.  Which set of varietals do you think will be able to compete?  The ones bred for suitability in Medit climates--which have to compete with better stuff from across the pond, or the ones bred to cope with lots of humidity, such that it expands the areas that can grow figs profitably?

I honestly don't know which can be grown most successfully and profitably for fresh market, but I hope to evaluate about 80 or so varieties to try out, including some smyrna types.  Growing conditions are a bit better 100 miles south of here where it gets hotter (and less cool at night), but I have pretty darned good growing conditions.  Howard at Davis encouraged me to give it a try back in 2008 so I'm finally getting around to it.  I don't want to do the "farmers' market scene", though, I prefer a more flexible schedule than that.  While most of us love having a lot of choices, I've found that too many choices often confuses customers.  I don't think I'm going to go out hunting for any wild figs or grow out any seedlings because there are already so many great figs to chose from.  I might sell figs without variety names listed.  As long as I just offer a quality fruit, customers should be happy.  It's hard to tear out something that I've planted in the ground but I've done it before and have committed to doing it again.  Even though I've got 47 acres, I don't really have a good spot to grow all the figs I want as it is so I'm going to have to be selective.

If someone wants to grow specified variety to run his business, we members can donate his variety to him and save A LOT of time and money.