REGULATION OF COMMONS. 313 
not give his consent, it is still in the power of the 
Board of Agriculture to approve the scheme, and it will 
be valid for all the purposes contained in it, save that 
the rights of the lord, whatever they may be, under the 
Statute of Merton or otherwise, are reserved, and, like 
other rights over the Common, cannot be materially 
interfered with without compensation. The lord may 
still put in force his rights of digging gravel and turf, 
and the Commoners may still exercise their rights of 
turning out cattle, subject to regulations made by the 
Conservators. 
Under the Commons Act of 1876, which applies to 
all Commons beyond the Metropolitan Police area, 
schemes of the same nature may be made for the 
regulation of Commons, whether in urban or rural dis- 
tricts. There is, however, the important difference that 
a scheme can only be entertained by the Board on the 
application or consent of one-third of the Commoners, 
and it cannot be finally approved by the Department, 
unless two-thirds (in value) of the Commoners agree, and 
the Lord of the Manor consents. The lord, in fact, has 
an absolute veto on such a scheme. Schemes in respect 
of rural Commons are generally applied for, not in the 
interest of the public, but for the purpose of defining and 
regulating the rights of Commoners, in cases where 
inclosure is not likely to be approved, or where it is not 
worth while to inclose and fence the land—in fact, where 
the object is to turn them into stinted pastures, leaving 
them uninclosed and open to the public. In cases of 
this kind the Board of Agriculture almost invariably 
