If you need firewood fast, cut ash. Unseasoned, it burns better than any other wood. Seasoned, it’s excellent.
White birch burns fast but not very hot. It’s good for a quick fire to take off the chill in spring or fall. Or use it with slower-burning woods to keep them going. Strip off the bark and use it for a fire starter; there’s nothing like it.
Beech, yellow birch and gray birch are tough to split and a little slow to dry, but they burn well and give plenty of heat.
Elm is best when it’s cut in the dead of winter and dried for at
least 2 years. But it’s murder to split, it barely burns, and there’s not much heat in it. Use elm only as a last resort.
Hornbeam, also called iron-wood, burns hot and lasts longer than any other wood. It’s scarce, though. Don’t cut live trees, but harvest any dead ones you find and save the wood for when you really need to hold a fire.
Oak makes excellent firewood but needs to be well seasoned. It sometimes sizzles and spits even after a year under cover.
Red maple is easy to cut and split and relatively easy to dry. It doesn’t burn particularly hot, though.
Sugar maple dries slowly and splits hard, but it burns hot and lasts a long time.

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