The shrinkage in the flora is due to a combination of clean-farming, woodlot grazing, and good roads. Each of these necessary changes of course requires a larger reduction in the acreage available for wild plants, but none of them requires, or benefits by, the erasure of species from whole farms, townships, or counties. There are idle spots on every farm, and every highway is bordered by an idle strip as long as it is; keep cow, plow, and mower out of these idle spots, and the full native flora, plus dozens of interesting stowaways from foreign parts, could be part of the normal environment of every citizen.

Summary

This quote highlights the reasons behind the decline of flora in certain areas due to modern practices like clean-farming, woodlot grazing, and the expansion of roads. While these changes understandably reduce the available space for wild plants, the quote emphasizes that it is not necessary or advantageous to completely eliminate certain species from farms or landscapes. Instead, the quote suggests that preserving idle spots on farms and along highways, and refraining from agricultural activities in these areas, could allow the native flora, along with new interesting plant species, to thrive and become a part of everyone's natural surroundings.

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