The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-03-20 00:00:00

THE INCLOSURE COMMISSION.

The report of the Inclosure Commission for the year
1874 states that the acreage of enclosures confirmed
since the passing of the Act is 587,867 acres, and the
estimated acreage of inclosures in progress is 83,868.
Of the 587,867 acres in confirmed inclosures (the
report says) the number from which public allotments
would be required by the Commissioners is 414,046,
and the extent set out as public allotment for exercise
and recreation, and for gardens forthe labouring poor, is
as follows, viz :—For exercise and recreation 1,746 acres,
for the labouring poor, 2,183. The Commissioners
state that they have felt it their duty to discourage fresh
applications for inclosure pending the decision of
Parliament on the conditions upon which sanction shall
in future be given to further inclosures of waste land.
The return printed by order of the House of Commons
last year affords (they add) the most trustworthy) data
we have yet possessed regarding the extent of common
lands still uninclosed. It is there shown to be 'about
one-fourteenth of the entire surface of England and
Wale, being 2,632,772 acres in extent. Two-thirds of
this axe in the mountainous and more elevated districts
of the country, and one-third in the lower counties.
Adding the apparently cultivable and "common field"
lands together, there would seem to be more than one
million acres still available for improvement, and for
extending the productive area of the country. And
much of the high land, though unsuitable for cultiva-
tion, might be greatly improved for pasturage or plan-
tations, if released from common rights and held in
severalty.—Pall Mall Gazette.

•
THE COLORADO BUG.
Dr. George Lawson, Professor of Chymistry of Dalhousie
College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, writes to The Times, under
date Feb. 24 :
"The German and Belgian Governments having
enacted a decree forbidding the importation of
'American potatoes' as a preventive measure against
the much dreaded 'Colorado bug,' please permit me to
state that the pest is quite unknown in the Province of
Nova Scotia, so that there need be no fear of its being
carried to Europe with any of our produce. Our sum-
mer climate appears to be too cool and moist for that
and several other insects that are troublesome in inland
regions on the same parallel of latitude. For a similar
reason, I do not think that there is any great likelihood
of the Colorado bug establishing itself permanently in
the British Isles. In the hotter parts of Europe, away
from the sea, suitable conditions may be found. I
know for a fact that for the last two or three years
numbers of Colorado beetles have been sent to England
in produce from parts of this Continent where, in the
Fall of the year, it is simply impossible to pack up any
kind of produce without their getting into it; yet we
do not hear that they have thriven anywhere in England.
A hot and dry continental climate seems to be neces-
sary for their development. The cold in winter, how-
ever severe, does not necessarily affect insects, which
are then dormant. As in the case of annual plants,
their possibility of existence depends upon the degree
and continuance of summer heat."