The earlier portion of Lord Rosebery's speech, after some amusing
persiflage on the products of Epsom, was devoted to the position of agriculture. The Hon. C. R. Spencer once created great amusement by stating that he was not an agri- cultural labourer. Lord Rosebery admitted that he was not nearly as much of an agriculturist as he should like to be, accepting that term in the modern sense of "a person who has half his rates paid for him by the Government" or, in Ireland, who has all his rates paid for him. At the same time, he proclaimed himself no great believer in legislation to assist agriculture. Here, as elsewhere, he had more faith in self-help, and he paid a graceful compliment to the late Lord Winchilsea for his efforts in establishing the South-Eastern Agricultural College at Wye, in Kent. That farming is still a fascinating pursuit, in spite of its inherent drawbacks, is amply proved by the curious facts mentioned in Thursday's Daily News. Of the triumphs of M. Jean de Reszke as a horse-breeder and the devotion of Verdi to his farm we were already aware. But it is news to learn that M. Paderewski has taken to breading Scotch cattle, that Madame Calvi5 keeps a large poultry farm, and that Herr Vogl, the famous Wagnerian tenor, has just carried off a prize for his breed of cows at the Agricultural Show of Bavaria.
