Dotted across the heartland of America, surprisingly, are still farmlands growing enough to be one of four countries that produce the most food. Among these farms stand the iconic image of a red barn and are as essential as the crops and livestock. Barns are designed based on the purpose of their need.
Tobacco barns are built with ventilation in mind to dry the tobacco leaves. These included long aisles with hanging racks, removable wall sections, and tall barn doors.
Bank barns were built along the side of a hill making it easy to load of hay or other items to the second level via a ramp through wide second-floor barn doors. Also, several trap doors were put into the second floor so hay or feed could be dropped down to awaiting livestock.
Old threshing barns were built with a threshing floor and can be characterized by large double doors in the center of one side. These large doors allowed for a horse and wagon to be driven through.
Why were barns painted red? The answer lies in the death of a star.
A star’s demise begins when the hydrogen fuel runs out. Gravity starts to shrink the star, pressure increases, and the core heats up. This causes reactions like the fusion of helium into carbon and on up the periodic table of heavier elements until it reaches number 26, Iron.
The star collapses by its own gravity, explodes, and showers the universe with energy and materials, like iron.
Barns weren’t at first painted at all, but by the 1700s farmers created a recipe of milk, lime, and red iron oxide from natural red clay. This helped to shield the wood from the elements, and since the darker color absorbed heat, the insides were a bit warmer too.
So don’t leave the barn door open.
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