It is clear that in some sections, under certain agricultural conditions already described, the job might be guaranteed a group of boys from the middle of April until the first of November, with almost steady work for six days in the week. The nature of crops and weather conditions determine continuity of work. A heavy rain means a good deal of cultivating and weeding immediately afterward in order to conserve the moisture. A light rain means that the boys can work for part of the day in the fields, while in the case of small-fruit farming even a slight rain prevents the picking of the fruit. Again, in vegetable farming a boy may work all day if the fields are not too hot, without any injury to his health or to the crops, because the vegetable plants cannot be injured by handling, no matter how hot it is. In the case of the specialized farmer, there is little or no guarantee for work beyond a short and definite period; that is, the period is necessarily short, but whether or not it is definite depends a great deal upon the weather and prices of crops. It is obvious that an abundant crop might cause a low market price,--a price too low to pay for picking,--and employers who early in the season thought that they wanted a group of boys might decline to accept them at the last moment. They might even contract for the boy-labor camp and after the boys had picked for a few days desire to drop the whole enterprise because of a fall in the market price,--a fall which would not be evident until the crops commenced to come. Or, again, the employer might contract for a camp of boys to pick strawberries, for example, and complete arrangements might be made for bringing the boys to the locality, only to have the camp project abandoned because a week of rain had absolutely ruined the strawberry crops. Such an experience was met in New York State the past season. A hailstorm in Chautauqua County completely destroyed in a few minutes the prospects of a camp for the harvesting of tomatoes. Now, it is evident that it is a difficult matter always to guarantee a job.