This study presents 1860 data on population and farm production in 5,228 farms located in 405 major cotton-producing counties in the South. The data was compiled from the agriculture, slave, and population schedules of the 1860 United States manuscript Census. For each farm, variables describing farm land, machinery, crops, and livestock are included, as well as production figures for specific crops and types of livestock on the farm. The population variables tabulate the free and slave residents of each farm by sex, race, and age in five- or ten-year categories. This data set contains information of farm production and population residing on farms in the major cotton producing counties of the southern United States. Variables include: county code number; soil type in county; no. farms sampled in county; detailed commodity production of each farm, including acreage, value of farm and machinery, numbers of head of livestock, value of livestock, production of field crops, value of orchard products, wine production, value of market garden products, production of dairy products, production of 'textile' crops, value of home manufactures, value of animals slaughtered; numbers of farm residents by age categories, sex, and status, including free, slave, farm laborer, overseer, non-farm worker.