il Fri, 12 Mar 2004 23:11:19 GMT, Sherwin Dubren ha scritto:

Mihai,
Perhaps you missed my point. U. of Minnesota might have planted
hundreds of seeds before they found a winner. Plus, who knows what
other genetic tricks these universities do to control their breeding.
I admire your fortitude, but I prefer to let the big people do the leg
work.
Most apples planted from seeds come out junk.
Before you waste a lot of your time, take a look at this article on
'Engineering the Apple', which goes into lots of detail about the
genetics of apple trees, and how orchardists do it:

My understanding is that fruit trees grown from seed may take 8 years
to fruit, those from cuttings, several years less. As for seed
variability, start studying genetics. :-) It's complicated also by
whether the seeds come from a hybrid or not and how they pollinate
etc. Check a seed saving site and read what they say about genetics
too.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]