Selecting and Purchasing Wood:Wood is generally characterized as "soft" or "hard" with the denser (hard) woods giving off more heat when burned.

* Softer woods can be used as kindling or for heating on warm days.

* Most wood dealers do not separate wood by grade or species.

* Knowing the general characteristics of the various species will allow you to determine the general value of the load.

* Hard or high density woods: Live, White, and Red oak, Black locust, Dogwood, Apple, Honey locust, Black and Yellow birch, Rock elm, Sugar maple, American beech, White and Oregon ash, Yew, and Black walnut.

* Medium density woods: Holly, Tamarack, Western larch, Juniper, Red maple, Cherry, American elm, Black gum, Sycamore, Gray birch, Sassafras, Magnolia, Red cedar, Bald cypress, Chestnut, and several pines--Pond, Nut, Loblolly, Shortleaf, Pitch, and Norway.

* Soft or low density woods: Butternut, Cottonwood, Black willow, Hemlock, Redwood, Tulip and Balsam poplars, Black, White, and Sitka spruce, Red, Noble, and Balsam fir, and Ponderosa, Sugar and White pine.