<Tr> <Td> Destroyed </Td> <Td> 3.3 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Sold Postwar </Td> <Td> 1.8 </Td> </Tr> <P> The main prewar agricultural products of the Confederate States were cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane, with hogs, cattle, grain and vegetable plots . Pre-war agricultural production estimated for the Southern states is as follows (Union states in parentheses for comparison): 1.7 million horses (3.4 million), 800,000 mules (100,000), 2.7 million dairy cows (5 million), 5 million sheep (14 million), 7 million cattle (5.4 million), 15.5 million swine (11.3 million), 187 million pounds of rice, 199 million pounds of tobacco (58 million), 5 million bales of cotton, 20 million bushels of oats (138 million bushels), 31 million bushels of wheat (114 million bushels), and 280 million bushels of corn (396 million bushels). </P> <P> In 1862, there was a severe drought that, despite efforts to switch from cotton planting to grain farming, caused food shortages and even bread riots in 1863 - 64 . The harvests were fairly abundant after 1862, but often went to waste as they could not be harvested or moved to markets . Corn was raised in large quantities, and, in general, the raising of food products instead of tobacco and cotton was a necessity . </P>

The southern economy at the start of the civil war