286 RURAL COMMONS. 
would be reserved for public enjoyment. The standing 
Committee took the same view, and approved the in- 
closure of the residue. 
By the action of the Committee and by discussions 
in the House of Commons, an entirely new policy with 
respect to inclosures has been forced upon the Inclosure 
Commissioners. The very name of the Commission, 
which was misleading, as it seemed to point out to 
them the duty of inclosing, has disappeared. In 1887, 
it was changed to the Land Commission, which has 
since been merged in the Board of Agriculture. In 
the sixteen years which have elapsed since the Com- 
mons Act of 1876, twenty-four Commons only have 
been inclosed, with a total area of 26,500 acres, of 
which 498 acres have been devoted to recreation ground, 
and 289 acres to field gardens and allotments. Two- 
thirds of the applications for inclosure of Commons, 
which have come before the Inclosure Commissioners 
and their successors, the Board of Agriculture, have 
been rejected, on the ground that no advantage would 
accrue to the public from thus dealing with them. In 
many of the latest schemes for inclosures of mountain 
lands, a provision has been inserted, securing to the 
public a right of access over the land, so long as it 
should not be tilled or planted. Since 1886 there has 
been only one case of inclosure. 
The change in public opinion marked by the 
Commons Act of 1876, and still more by the mode 
of administering it, can only be realised by those 
who have given close attention to the subject. To 
