Two explanations come to mind:

1. Since it's summertime they probably thought it was the wrong time to give out cuttings (suppposed to wait until trees are dormant in winter)

2. Maybe nobody was there who had any clue about how to get a cutting for you so it was easier to just say no than get your phone number and ask you to come back later (some people are just lazy that way).

They don't want you to grow your own figs. They want you to come back every year and buy figs from them.

Is this because it's best for the tree (less damaging) or is it because it's the best time to get cuttings which will do well?

Claire

Please don't feel bad. Here's my story:

About 8 years ago I bought some exceptional figs at a local organic store. The sign read "Brown Turkey Figs" but I knew otherwise and told my wife that these figs were a different breed altogether. This was an heirloom fig! They were large, brown figs of exceptional flavor and sweetness! I copied the grower's number off the packing flat and gave him a call.

Sure enough, these were Egyptian figs growing in a small orchard in California.

The story goes that in 1963, the gentleman and his wife were vacationing in Egypt. In their tour they came across some ancient murals depicting figs. The guide indicated that the same fig was still grown locally and they were directed to one of the street vendors. The couple was so impressed by the quality of the fig, they asked the vendor if he would share some cuttings from his tree. While reluctant to do so, he finally traded 6 cuttings for a carton of American cigarettes.

The man returned home and rooted the cuttings. He eventually developed a small orchard of these trees and sold the figs to a chain of organic stores.

So to make a long story short, it took forever to convince the grower to share some cuttings of his precious fig with me. After numerous phone calls and mailing him a prepaid container, he finally sent me 6 cuttings of his fig. It was pure luck that one of the cuttings rooted.

Two years passed and my tree finally produced an abundance of... yellow figs! They were obviously not the same variety. I was so heartbroken that I called the grower back to ask why he had sent me the wrong cuttings. He informed me that he would not share the variety with anyone and that he felt compelled to send me cuttings of a different fig just to satisfy my interest.

Ironically, due to illness and financial woes, he was eventually forced out of business because he could no longer hire immigrants to support the cost of the leased land. Sadly, while destroying his trees, he defiantly refused to share not even one cutting of this precious find with anyone and has since passed on.

Leon,

That's a really sad story. He could have been remembered through his living fig trees and instead, he killed them and left a bad memory instead of a good one. He could have made money selling his fig tree cuttings!!! That hurts my heart. What a loss to the world of figs in the US. It's like the Aesop Fable of The Dog in the Manger. The dog couldn't eat the hay, but he wouldn't let the cattle, who could, have any. Go figure.

noss