Farmer Dave planted corn. But it didn’t grow. He planted carrots. They didn’t grow either.

              “What’s wrong with my crops?” he asked his friend, Farmer Bob.

              “I don’t know,” said Bob. “Have you tried watering them?”

              Dave had.

              “Have you tried giving them fertilizer?”

              Dave had.

              “Have you tried telling them jokes?”

              Dave had not. “I never thought of that,” said Dave.

              “Try it,” suggested Bob.

              So Dave asked the corn, “why was Cinderella so bad at soccer?” The corn didn’t answer. So Dave answered. “Because she ran away from the ball.”

              The corn grew an inch. “It’s working!” said Dave.

              “Always does,” said Bob.

              “What do you call angry carrots?” Dave asked the carrots.

             “Steamed vegetables!” answered Bob. Dave and Bob laughed. The carrots grew.

             Dave bought a book of 1001 best jokes ever. He stayed in the fields reading jokes to his crops all night. Before long, they had grown higher than his fences.

             Dave kept reading. The crops kept growing. Soon, they were higher than the crops on the neighboring farms.

             “How did you get your crops to grow so high?” asked his neighbor, Farmer Belle.

             “Jokes!” said Dave.

             “Well that’s a corny solution,” said Belle. And it was.