348 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



of the soil, each female laying some fifty eggs. The eggs are most 

 abundant in late May and early June in central New York. Usu- 

 ally a female lays but one or two eggs on a plant and prefers to lay 

 them in a crevice of the stem or very near it, for if the young mag- 

 gots have to travel far to reach their food, many will die before find- 

 ing it, and if laid on hard soil the maggots will be unable to pene- 

 trate it to the soft tissue of the root, as they are unable to feed on 



FIG. 249. Cabbage root infested with maggots. (After Slingerland.) 



the hard stem above ground. The eggs are about one twenty- 

 fifth inch long, of a pure white color, which renders them 

 easily seen against the soil by one familiar with them, and are of the 

 shape shown in Fig. 251, having a curious ridge along one side. The 

 eggs hatch in from three to ten days, averaging five to seven. 

 The little maggots at once commence rasping the surface of the 

 tender roots, gradually mine into them, and in three or four weeks 

 have become full grown. The grown maggot is one-third inch 



