Suckers, says Dr. Lindley, in his Theory of Horticulture, "are branches naturally thrown up by a plant from its base, when the onward current of growth of the stem is stopped. Every stem, even the oldest, must have been once covered with leaves; each leaf had a bud in its axil; but of those buds, few are developed as branches, and the remainder remain latent, or perish. When the onward growth of a plant is arrested, the sap is driven to find new outlets, and then latent buds are very likely to be developed; in fact, when the whole plant is young, they must necessarily shoot forth under fitting circumstances; the well-known effect of cutting down a tree is an exemplification of this. Such branches, if they proceed from under ground, frequently form roots at their base, when they are employed as a means of propagation; and in the case of the pine-apple they are made use of for the same purpose, although they do not emit roots till they are separated from the parent. Gardeners usually satisfy themselves with taking from their pine-apple plants such suckers as are produced in consequence of the stoppage of onward growth by the formation of the fruits; but these are few in number, and not at all what the plant is capable of yielding.

Instead of throwing away the "stump" of the pine-apple, it should be placed in a damp pit, and exposed to a bottom heat of 90°, or thereabouts, when every one of the latent eyes will spring forth, and a crop of young plants be the result".

Taking up or transplanting suckers may be performed almost at any time, in open weather, from October to March, being careful to dig them up from the mother plant with as much root as possible, and cutting off any thick knobbed part of the old root that may adhere to the bottom, leaving only the fibres arising from the young wood. Though it is probable some will appear with hardly any fibres, they will be disposed to produce them after removal.