BARNHART: HISTORICAL SKETCH 21 
have devoted years of faithful service to the Club's interests, as 
vice-presidents, secretaries, treasurers, curators, librarians, asso- 
ciate editors, and members of important committees. Of one 
standing committee, however, I feel that I must speak. 
The early work of the Club was, as already pointed out, largely 
in the field. At first Manhattan Island furnished many interesting 
localities for rare plants; but, with the growth of our metropolis, 
the wild conditions that so delight the field-worker were pushed 
farther and farther from the center of the city and with this in- 
creased inaccessibility and an accompanying diversification in the 
interests of the members came a decline in the field-activity of the 
Club. All through its history, however, the Club has clung to the 
idea that it was its duty to arrange field-meetings for those who 
desired to avail themselves of such a privilege. "There have been 
times when the field-activities of the Club seemed on the verge of 
extinction; but always some one has been found to serve on the 
field-committee, and the present committee has in the past few 
years seen a renewal of interest under the stimulus of its efforts, 
particularly those of its chairman. May the Club never fail to 
retain a strong hold upon the soil from which it sprung! 
