Waynea, I'm just passing along information that I've received from John Preece and others at the NCGR/Davis aka Wolfskill Experimental Orchard.
First, a clarification. UC Davis is practically non-involved with this. Technically, the land is leased from UC Davis by the National Clonal Germplasm Repository, part of the USDA. Let's see their mission statement:
Quote:
These resources are preserved by us to ensure that these species will be available for future generations and to support research efforts in variety development and other areas of plant research.
John Preece, the head guy at Wolfskill, opened up cutting distribution to "hobby researchers" a few years ago, with the request that research data/finding be sent back to them. The number of cuttings distributed went through the roof. In fact, the volume was so high that instead of getting all the cuttings mailed out in the spring, they were still mailing in June of 2015. I'm not sure if they have ever gotten any research back.
The simple fact is that USDA/NCGR/Davis/Wolfskill does not have enough money and staff to fulfill orders from everyone who wants cuttings. Let me repeat that - they have enough wood to fulfill 99% of orders, but lack the manpower to get orders out the door in a timely fashion.
In the past, NCGR/Davis provided fig cuttings to CRFG for scion exchanges. I believe that still happened this year, but I'll know for certain on Jan 2nd.
In the future, you may be able to order cuttings online though CRFG or NAFEX. I've talked with some people at the Golden Gate CRFG about making it happen. They made the excellent point that almost every variety at NCGR/Davis is available from another enthusiast. Heck, a large percentage of the NCGR/Davis collection was donated by Mr. C Todd Kennedy of the CRFG. So while NCGR/Davis was the _cheapest_ fig cutting source, it's not the only one.
Who counts as a researcher? I believe universities and non-profits count.
BTW - I have and share this info for a number of reasons. Wolfskill is amazingly beautiful. I attend every fruit tasting there that I find out about. And I went to farm school like a mile down the road. It's an amazing resource that this country has. If you live in the area, you can email John Preece and he will take people on tours of wolfskill. He has to drive around and check everything occasionally, and it appears that he enjoys showing off the collection.
