A characteristic feature in the development of agriculture between the 1870's and the 1930's was that both large estates and family-run farms participated in the transformation which laid the foundations of today's modern farming sector. This was true of both Sweden and other parts of western Europe. This stability of different forms of production has often been presented as contradictory, a phenomenon which is difficult to explain. This thesis shows that agricuIturaI modemisation should be analysed as a multi-faceted historical process. The transformation is analysed at both macro and micro levels, and I have also investigated the structures which functioned as links between farmers and the larger economic environment: the processing chain, agricultural organizations and govemment bodies at local and regional levels.