I slutningen af 1800-tallet var der mange, der fik sig en hedelod og drømmen om at kunne omdanne lyngheden til agerjord. En hedelod på ca. 20 hektar kunne med held og stor driftighed lige akkurat brugtes til foder til dyrene, varme i kakkelovnen, materiale til tagdækning og endda madrasfyld til sengen. Tyske kolonister forsøgte omkring 1780 at opdyrke et område lige udenfor Vorbasse, men det slog fejl for de fleste, der rejste væk igen. Først hen i 1800-tallet begyndte man at kunne mergle jorden, hvilket betød en forbedring af jorden. Alligevel var arbejdet meget hårdt og det mislykkedes for mange. Selv i dag kan man finde spor efter fejlslagne forsøg på at slå sig ned på heden.
Many people acquired a plot of moorland at the end of the 19th century and had a dream of converting the heath to good farming land. If you were hard-working and lucky, then a moorland tract of about 20 hectares could give fodder for animals, fuel for the stove, material for roofing and even filling for your mattress. Colonizers from Germany started cultivation of an area just outside Vorbasse around 1780, but most were unsuccessful and left the country again. When marling became possible later in the 1800s to fertilize the soil, it was easier to gain a living. It was still wearisome work and many had to give up. You can still find traces on the moor of some of these early failures.