To make the ground level enough, it is generally necessary to level it with scrapers. The more level is the surface the better, cheaper and quicker will be the irrigation, and no small amount of trouble will be avoided if this work is properly done before the vines are planted. Too little of this leveling is done in some places, and I have seen thousands of acres planted in Muscat vines which were so improperly leveled that the profits of the vineyard in after years would be seriously interfered with. To understand how this can be possible, we must remember what takes place when we irrigate and after we have irrigated. The gate in the ditch is opened, the water flows out and runs immediately down to the lowest part of the check. When this part is reached, the check begins to fill up. If the ground is very uneven, it may take days to fill the check, and the lower part will require to be covered several feet with water before it will reach the higher parts, which always need irrigation the most. To back it up so high requires also a correspondingly high levee, which again is more apt to break and cause trouble and expense the higher it is. After the water has reached the highest possible point, the flow is shut off, and the water begins to subside. The highest part of the land becomes dry the first, and quickly, while it may take days or even weeks to dry up the lowest part of the check. When at last the check is all dry it may be found that the lowest vines have been injured or entirely drowned out. When summer irrigation is used, it is absolutely necessary to have the ground level, so that when it is flooded the water will not reach up to the grapes, as they spoil when coming in contact with the water.