Landscape in change

Skärsnäs then and now – landscape in change

From Åskefällalund to Skärsnäs, the trail runs over previously cultivated land planted with spruce. Old hay meadows, peat fields and moss plantations bear witness to the farming efforts of the farmers. Today, the landscape along the Utvandrarleden is mainly dominated by cultivated spruce and pine.

About the "eclipse of Småland", Vilhelm Moberg wrote in Dagens Nyheter after he revisited and cycled around his home regions during the summer of 1964:

"All of this, which collectively formed the bright element in my home village, all of this which lit up, had disappeared. In its place stood the dark trees. I only saw spruce and pine.”

The today partially overgrown canal in Skärsnäs was dug and blown up in 1893. The canal diggers were paid one swedish krona per day. The cost of the entire channel was SEK 2,000.

Closer to Skärsnäs farm, however, the landscape is open with fine pastures, crushed ash and cherry trees that bloom beautifully in the spring.

The older picture depicts Carl Öhrström plowing on Råsen in Skärsnäs together with his family Anna and daughter Berta sometime between 1880-1900.

Photographer unknown. Source: Yxnanäs home village association.