Apple Pips

I bought some Smitten apples from our local supermarket and found them more than acceptable. In fact I'd go so far as to sag they are the best shop bought Apple's I have had in a very long time. I was so impressed that I searched the net to find trees to buy; there were non and I doubt there will be any fire some years to come. When I'd eaten another Apple down to the core I noticed the pips leading out from the centre, the sight got me thinking. Yes I know I won't get a replica of the Smitten by planting pips. If they germinate and eventually fruit the apples may not even be edible. But there is a chance, very slight, that the apples may be good, they could even be the best apple ever grown.  I estimate that the chances of getting reasonable apples, though slight, is better than the chance of winning the lottery. I'm on optimist, as I'm sure you can tell. I planted nine or ten pips in a small pot if potting compost. I didn't fridge them for a few weeks, I hadn't read of or considered the need for a vernalization period. Very foolish of me, I do know better, but I wasn't in a rush and was happy to wait till next spring. In a little over a week I had eight seedling apple trees sprouted, I was amazed.  I assume the apples have been in a cold store and that has been sufficient to meet their vernalization requirement.  I have reported the seedlings into individual pots and they seem to have survived the process. If I had expected such good and quick germination I'd have planted the pips individually.  If they survive and prosper I'll  pot them on next spring and as soon as they are big enough take graft wood from each tree to graft onto dwarf root stock.  This should shorten the time to production as my reading informs me that an apple tree on its own root stock will take a long time to fruit and be a very large tree.  The experiment will be fun, no matter the results. And I occasionally buy a lottery ticket and my chances with this are better.