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Today I learned why barns are red. It was in the Dispatch's "who knew" article where they take interesting reference questions that the library has been asked and puts them in the paper.

Q: Why are barns painted red?

A: Centuries ago, European farmers sealed the wood on their barns with a mixture of linseed oil, milk and lime. The combination produced a long-lasting paint -- more of a burnt-orange red than the fire-engine red of today -- that dried and hardened quickly. Two main theories explain how the oil mixture became traditionally red: Either blood, from a recent slaughter, or rust was added. Rust -- plentiful on farms -- acts as a poison to many fungi, including wood-decaying threats such as mold and moss. Red on barns became fashionable in the 1800s, when red paint was the most inexpensive; it remained in favor until whitewash became cheaper.