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In 1886, Delta & Pine Land Company was chartered in Mississippi as a land speculation company, but was inactive until 1919, when a British textile company acquired the name. In the 1920-30s, the company operated one of the largest cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta, with headquarters in Scott, Mississippi.〔(Delta and Pine Land Company Records (1886-1982) ) Retrieved 2013-12-04〕 In the latter half of the 20th century, the company divested its farm lands, concentrated on research and development of cotton and soybean seeds, and became world-renowned for its development of Deltapine cotton varieties.〔(Delta and Pine Land Company Facts ) Retrieved 2013-12-06〕 ==History== The original Delta and Pine Land (D&PL) Company was chartered in 1886 in the state of Mississippi, under laws that allowed almost unlimited land holdings by a single company.〔(Delta and Pine Land Company Records MSS.101 ) Retrieved 2013-12-04〕 State laws were later changed to restrict land acquisition and ownership, but did not apply to companies that were grandfathered in under older laws. In 1911, Fine Cotton Spinners’ and Doublers’ Association Ltd. (FCSDA) of Manchester, England, purchased large tracts of land——in the Mississippi Delta for cotton production.〔 In order to comply with state law regarding land ownership, FCSDA created three companies—''Lake Vista Plantation Company'' and ''Triumph Plantation Company'' owned land, while ''Mississippi Delta Planting Company'' leased the land and operated it as one unit. In 1919, FCSDA acquired the inactive charter of D&PL, and merged its three smaller companies under that title with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.〔 In 1927, D&PL moved its headquarters to Scott, Mississippi, where it remained. In the 1930s, D&PL operated the largest cotton plantation in the U.S., with more than under cultivation.〔 The average yield for cotton in the 1920s was less than per acre (0.4 ha),〔(Encyclopedia of Alabama: Cotton ) Retrieved 2013-12-07〕 but D&PL was producing an average of of cotton fiber per acre (0.4 ha) and of seed by the 1930s.〔 D&PL introduced their Deltapine cotton variety in 1942.〔 After World War II, D&PL cotton varieties were being planted throughout the southern U.S., from Texas to North Carolina. During the 1960s-70s, D&PL began expanding into the western U.S, with offices in California, Arizona, and Texas.〔 New cotton varieties were bred specifically for the drier climates, typical in the western states. In 1964, FCSDA was acquired by Courtaulds, another British textile company. And in 1978, Courtaulds sold D&PL, in a leveraged buyout, to U.S. investors (Southwide, Inc. of Memphis).〔〔(Roger Malkin Honored As Recipient of Cotton Industry Achievement Award ) Retrieved 2013-12-04〕 During the years that followed, most of the D&PL farm acreage was sold and the company concentrated on research and development of improved varieties of cotton and soybean seeds.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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