(1 April 1888-29 Jan. 1955), ag rep, promoter of reforestation. (Fred Larose) Born at Sarsfield, Ont. Education: University of Ottawa, University of Montreal, L’Institut Agricole d’Oka. After being employed 1918-1919 by the Dominion Seed Purchasing Commission and Dominion Seed Branch, he was the asssistant ag rep for Dundas County, appointed 1 July 1919, and he became ag rep for the United Counties of Prescott and Russell in Nov. or Dec. 1919. He was the first ag rep appointed for Prescott and Russell, and remained ag rep there for some three decades. Prescott and Russell had a large francophone population, for which he provided services in their own language. He promoted the development in Prescott and Russell of dairying, also the growing of hops, flax and red clover. Likewise, he promoted the government-sponsored project of reforesting the eroded, sandy soils of the Bourget area, sometimes called the “Bourget Desert.” Planting began in the 1920s and continued over many years. The planted forest which resulted has been named the Larose Forest in his honour. It is said to be the largest planted forest in Canada. In late 1949, close to the end of Larose’s working career, Russell was given its own ag rep. Larose retired on supperannuation on 31 July 1951. He had been troubled with illness during his last years in employment, and it was “after a lengthy illness” that he died at Plantagenet. Roman Catholic. Burial was in his parish cemetery, Plantagenet. He was married to Laurette Emond.
The Larose Forest is a major recreation facility in the GC area of Eastern Ontario, offering opportunities for snowmobilers and hikers among others, including sometimes hunters). As a home for wildlife, it affects the countyside of northern GC, as its deer and moose population seek new ranges farther south. In recent years, L’association canadienne-française de l’Ontario honoured two elderly men who had worked on the the first tree-planting team in the Larose Forest. (Vankleek Hill Review 30 May & 6 June 2001, 18 Sept. 2002) Also, the forest in recent years has been the subject of controversy, first over the placing of a theatre in its groves, and then relating to whether “Larose” should be adopted as a special or advertising name to indentify the Prescott-Russell area for tourist purposes.
Ottawa Citizen 31 Jan. 1955 (death notice) (QF) * biog. information from Ag Rep’s office, Plantagenet, 1995 * Who’s Who in the Agricultural Institute of Canada (1948) 112 * Biesenthal 202, 203 * Scott R. Reid, Larose Forest (Ont. Ministry of Natural Resources, 1979, 20 pp. with illustr. and maps) * Larose commended in MS memoirs of C.G. McKillican p. 29 for his work in reforestation * Brault: index * Larose Forest, Bibliography of Glengarry: index * tour through Prescott and Russell and Larose Forest described in “Une zone de transition entre deux grandes cultures,” Le Carillon, 16 mai 1981 (with map) * “Larose Forest [moose] Hunt Approved,” Glengarry News 7 Sept., 1994