D&PL’s corporate roots in the area surrounding Scott, Mississippi, were planted by a group of businessmen from Manchester, England. The businessmen wanted to secure a reliable supply of long staple cotton to feed their private textile mills. The mill owners were part of the Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association, organization through which they created the predecessor to D&PL. In 1911, the Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association purchased 38,000 acres in the area around Scott in the rural and sparsely populated Delta area of Mississippi.  Delta and Pine Land Company later became the largest breeder, producer, and marketer of cottonseed in the United States. The company also produces soybean planting seeds containing a gene tolerant to herbicides. The company sells its products in more than a dozen countries, deriving the bulk of its international sales from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, South Africa, and Turkey. In 2006, Monsanto announced that it would acquire the Delta and Pine Land Company with a 1.5 billion cash deal, which would give Monsanto control of half of the American market for cotton seeds.

Folder

1. D&PL “Let us put our two cents in!” advertisement

D & PL Company Annual Report, 1997

D & PL  Company Booklet

2. Fortune Magazine, September 1931

1 large sack

1 small sack

3. Compiled news clippings and information (1990s)

• Scrapbook for Delta & Pine Land, early 1960s
• 1 Large bale of cotton
• 1 small bale of cotton

This page is just a small component of sub-series IV (Material Collections) of the McCormick collection. To view the collection in its entirety please visit Delta State University Archives and Museum in Cleveland, Mississippi or for more information please contact the Delta State Archives at 662.846.4780