between 1871–75 and 1896–1900, the importation of wheat and flour increased by 90%, for meat it was 300% and for butter and cheese it was 110%. the price of wheat in britain declined from 56"s" 0"d" a quarter in 1867–71 to 27"s" 3"d" in 1894–98. the nadir came in 1894–95, when prices reached their lowest level for 150 years, 22s. 10d. on the eve of the depression, the total amount of land growing cereals was ; by 1898 this had declined to , a decline of about 22%. during the same period, the amount of land under permanent pasture rather than under cultivation increased by 19%. by 1900 wheat-growing land was only a little over 50% of the total of 1872 and shrank further until 1914.